t  tut  swoaio,/ 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund 


JV  6455   .H4  1912 
Henry,  Johrx  Robertson,  1363- 
1949. 

Some  immigrant  neighbors 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


« 


https://archive.org/details/someimmigrantneiOOhenr_0 


SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


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Home  Mission  Study  Course 

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Issued  under  the  direction  of  the  Council  of 
Women  for  Home  Missions 


SOME  IMMIGRANT 
NEIGHBORS 


BY 


JOHN  R.  HENRY 


ILLUSTRATED 


New  York       Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London    and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  191 2,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

llll=llll=llllllll=llll=llll 


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To 


FOREWORD 


THIS  little  book  for  Junior  Home  Mission  Study 
classes  has  been  written  from  the  point  of  view  of 
a  New  York  City  pastor.    The  races  that  have 
been  selected  for  study  are  so  chosen  because  the  writer 
knows  them  at  first  hand  through  having  labored 
among  them  in  institutional  and  church  work. 

The  book  is  an  invitation  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  immigrant  and  be  his  friend  and  good  neighbor. 

The  thanks  of  the  author  are  due  the  many  writers 
whose  works  he  has  freely  used,  the  members  of  his 
staff,  and  Miss  AHce  M.  Guernsey  for  helpful  suggestions, 
and  the  Rev.  F.  Mason  North,  D.D.,  for  reading  the 
manuscript  and  for  valuable  criticisms. 

J.  R.  H. 

Church  of  All  Nations, 
New  York  City,  April,  19 12 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

*'  Where  Us  Fellows  Has  to  Play  "       .  Frontispiece 

A  Jewish  Immigrant  Boy  17 

A  Little  Maid  of  Italy  17 

The  Home  of  a  Russian  Peasant    .       .       .  .48 

A  Russian  Moujik  and  His  Family.       .       .  .48 

From  the     Church  of  All  Nations,"  New  York 

City  66 

An  Italian  Kindergarten  (Penn.)     .      .      .  .74 

How  the  Chinese  Babies  Ride       .       .       .  .82 

Rescued  Slave  Girls  (New  York  City)  .      .  .82 


i 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  Who  Are  They?   13 

II,  Why  Do  They  Come?   21 

III.  Oiir  Jewish  Neighbor   35 

IV.  Our  Russian  Neighbor   43 

V.  Our  ItaHan  Neighbor   51 

VI.  Our  Chinese  Neighbor   59 

VII.  Makers  of  Good  Neighbors   69 

VIII.  Good  Neighbors  and  Bad   77 

IX.  Neighbors  to  the  World   87 


I 

WHO  ARE  THEY? 


"  Dago,"  and  "  Sheeney,"  and  "  Chink," 

"  Greaser,"  and  "  Nigger,"  and  "  Jap." 
The  Devil  invented  these  terms,  I  think, 

To  hurl  at  each  hopeful  chap 
Who  comes  so  far  over  the  foam 

To  this  land  of  his  heart's  desire 
To  rear  his  brood,  to  build  his  home. 

And  to  kindle  his  hearthstone  fire. 
While  the  eyes  with  joy  are  blurred, 

Lo !  we  make  the  strong  man  sink. 
And  stab  the  soul,  with  the  hateful  word, 

"  Dago,"  and  "  Sheeney,"  and  "  Chink." 

— Bishop  Mclntyre. 


i 


WHO  ARE  THEY? 

SINCE  we  are  going  to  study  about  "  Some  Immi- 
grant Neighbors,"  it  is  well  to  know  just  what  we 
m_ean  by  the  words  "  Immigrant  "  and  "  Neighbor." 
Immigrant.  The  word  Immigrant  is  confusing  because 
it  looks  and  sounds  so  much  hke  the  word  "  Emigrant," 
but  they  are  quite  different.  An  Immigrant  is  one  who 
comes  into  a  country,  generally  with  the  intention  of  set- 
tling there.  An  Emigrant  is  one  that  goes  out  of  a  coun- 
try, with  the  intention  of  settling  in  some  other  land. 

The  people  we  are  to  study  are  the  Immigrants  who 
have  come,  and  are  coming,  into  America. 

Neighbor.  Every  one  knows  the  meaning  of  the  word 
neighbor.  A  neighbor  is  one  who  lives  near  another, 
across  the  street,  or  next  door,  or  maybe  in  our  own 
village  or  town.  If  you  live  in  a  large  city  it  is  not  so 
easy  to  feel  that  the  people  who  live  near  you  are  your 
neighbors.  It  was  much  easier  years  ago,  when  all  that 
are  now  cities  were  only  towns  and  villages,  and  many 
cities  now  well  known  were  simply  prairie  with  waving 
grass  and  flowers,  roamed  over  by  bands  of  Indians  and 
trampled  by  the  hoofs  of  countless  bison. 

The  word  neighbor  has  a  larger  meaning  than  merely 
one  who  lives  near  another.  There  is  a  wonderful  de- 
scription of  a  neighbor,  given  by  One  who  is  the  World's 
Good  Neighbor.  He  tells  of  the  traveler  who  found  a 
stranger  lying  by  the  roadside,  wounded  and  helpless. 

15 


I 

1 

i6         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 

At  personal  inconvenience  and  expense  the  traveler  cared 
for  the  half  dead  man,  and  continued  his  aid  until  the 
stranger  was  again  able  to  care  for  himself. 

We  shall  have  gained  a  great  deal  from  the  study  of 
this  book,  if  we  learn  not  only  to  look  on  these  immi- 
grants as  neighbors,  those  who  live  near  us,  but  if  we 
seriously  ask  ourselves  how  we  may  be  Good  Neighbors 
to  the  strangers  from  across  the  sea. 

The  Neighbors  to  he  Studied.  We  are  not  going  to 
talk  about  all  of  the  thirty-nine  races  of  immigrants  that 
are  separately  listed  by  our  government,  but  only  about 
four  of  them.  Some  one  says,  "  I  hope  you  will  tell 
about  the  ones  I  like."  Well,  we  hope  before  we  are 
through  you  will  like  the  ones  we  shall  tell  about,  and 
we  are  sure  you  will,  for  you  will  be  better  acquainted, 
and  it  is  wonderful  how  much  more  likable  the  immigrant 
is  when  you  know  him. 

Numbers.  Although  we  are  to  study  only  Chinese, 
Jews,  Russians  and  Italians,  333,694  of  these  four  classes 
of  immigrants  landed  in  America  in  191 1;  920,299, 
almost  a  milHon,  landed  in  the  three  years  last  past,  and 
that  is  a  large  falling  off  as  compared  with  some  previous 
periods.  In  191 1  the  Jews  and  Italians  numbered  thirty- 
five  out  of  every  hundred  that  came.  You  see  that  while 
we  discuss  but  four  classes,  two  of  these  are  more  than 
one-fourth  of  all  that  come. 

These  numbers  may  suggest  very  little  to  us,  but  how 
they  would  have  startled  the  fathers  of  our  country.  The 
warlike  Miles  Standish,  or,  in  later  years,  the  peppery 
Peter  Stuyvesant,  would  have  declared  no  such  numbers 
could  be  brought  across  the  sea  in  a  year.  The  only  ships 
our  fathers  knew  were  small  wooden  sailing  vessels  like 
our  coasting  schooners ;  the  giant,  floating  hotels  that  we 
call  steamships,  that  carry  a  big  village  every  trip,  were 


WHO  ARE  THEY? 


17 


not  dreamed  of  in  those  days.  The  saiHng  vessel  took 
weeks  and  months  to  make  the  voyage;  now  we  can 
reckon,  almost  to  the  hour,  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  a 
great  liner. 

It  might  be  well  if  these  numbers  did  startle  us  more 
and  if  we  better  realized  how  great  is  this  invading  army 
of  strangers,  friendly  as  it  may  be. 

Dislike  of  Foreigners.  Many  people  do  not  like  the 
immigrants  simply  because  they  are  foreigners.  This 
prejudice  is  as  old  as  the  world,  and  its  origin  is  a  most 
interesting  study.  Perhaps  some  high  school  boy  or  girl 
can  give  a  reason  for  this  early  dislike. 

"  The  reasons  for  disliking  the  foreigner  in  early  times 
were  that  no  one  traveled  much  and  there  were  no  news- 
papers, consequently  neighboring  tribes,  or  nations,  did 
not  get  to  know  each  other.  Nearby  tribes  were  sus- 
picious of  each  other  and  were  much  at  war,  continually 
robbing  and  killing.  Every  stranger  was  a  possible 
enemy." 

Yes,  that  is  a  good  answer.  Now,  give  a  reason  for 
present  dislike  of  the  immigrant. 

"  I  have  a  reason,"  one  boy  says.  "  My  father  lost  his 
job  because  an  *  Eyetalian '  offered  to  work  for  less." 

Yes,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  is  a  very  real  cause  of  dis- 
like. That  is  also  war,  although  it  is  now  called  by  a 
different  name.  To  take  a  man's  position,  by  which  he 
earns  his  bread,  or  to  steal  a  man's  cattle,  from  which 
he  and  his  family  were  fed,  amounts  to  about  the  same 
in  the  end.  Give  some  other  reasons  for  disliking  immi- 
grants. 

"  They  talk  such  funny  English."  They  don't  dress 
like  us."  "  They  don't  eat  like  us."  "  They  can't  play 
ball." 


i8         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


Yes,  undoubtedly  all  these  are  reasons  for  feeling  that 
foreigners  differ  from  Americans,  but  are  they  good 
reasons  for  disliking  the  foreigner  ? 

I  saw  a  "  grown-up  "  show  this  hostile  feeHng  one 
day  as  I  was  passing  along  a  crowded  street  on  the  East 
Side  of  New  York.  An  American  youth  of  about 
eighteen  years  of  age  snatched  some  fruit  from  the  push 
cart  of  a  young  Italian  of  the  same  age.  The  Italian 
grappled  with  the  young  thief  and  was  giving  him  a  sound 
thrashing  when  a  poHceman,  leisurely  swinging  his  club, 
turned  the  corner.  With  one  glance  he  took  in  the  scene 
of  the  Itahan- American  war.  Raising  his  club  and  shout- 
ing, *'You  Dago,"  he  charged  full  at  the  Italian.  The 
young  fellow  saw  him  coming  and  took  off  down  the 
street  as  hard  as  he  could  run,  dodging  as  he  went  the 
flying  club  the  policeman  had  hurled.  When  the  tempest 
had  calmed  I  stepped  up  to  the  officer  and  said,  ''Officer, 
what  did  the  ItaHan  do?"  "Do?"  said  he  with  supreme 
disgust,  "  he  was  a  Dago."  Evidently  the  sole  crime  of 
the  Italian  consisted  in  being  a  "  Dago,"  a  foreigner. 

To  some  people  all  Italians  are  either  Dagos,  or 
Guineas,  all  Jews  are  Sheenies,  all  Chinese  are  Chinks 
and  all  Russians  are  Owskies.  They  are  foreigners,  and 
that  is  enough.  Such  people  forget  that  while  the  lan- 
guage of  the  immigrant  sounds  "  funny "  to  us,  ours 
sounds  just  as  strange  to  him.  While  we  laugh  at  the 
pig  tail  and  queer  shoes  and  strange  clothes  of  the  Chi- 
nese, they  follow  the  American  in  crowds  through  Chi- 
nese cities  and  make  fun  of  his  absurd  dress,  and  call 
him  names  that  are  not  wholly  complimentary,  all  be- 
cause he  is  a  stranger  to  them. 

Our  Debt  to  the  Foreigner.  It  will  help  us  to  cultivate 
the  spirit  of  a  Good  Neighbor  if  we  remember  that  we 
are  hopelessly  in  debt  to  all  these  foreigners. 


WHO  ARE  THEY? 


19 


Our  Debt  to  the  Chinese.  The  Chinese  invented  the 
mariner's  compass  that  enables  the  sailor  to  strike  boldly 
out  into  the  deep,  sure  of  not  losing  his  way  across  the 
trackless  ocean  when  stars  and  sun  are  gone.  He  is  like- 
wise an  example  to  all  the  world  in  his  reverence  and  care 
for  old  age,  for  father  and  mother.  A  traveler  recently 
returned  from  China  says  he  has  never  seen  old  faces 
more  calm  and  kindly  than  those  he  met  among  elderly 
Chinese  farmers.  They  seemed  to  think  of  nothing  but 
the  welfare  of  others.  The  rights  of  the  parent  are 
such  that  any  father  or  mother  with  sons  or  grandsons 
living  is  assured  in  old  age  of  the  best  care  the  children 
can  provide.  Though  the  son  may  be  fifty  years  of  age 
and  have  a  family  of  his  own  he  will  yet  give  his  own 
salary  into  the  hands  of  his  father  week  by  week.  The 
father  need  not  worry  about  the  future  as  do  many 
fathers  of  large  families  in  our  own  land,  hence  the  calm 
eyes  and  care-free  faces  among  old  Chinese  farmers. 
The  Chinese  teach  that  it  is  an  honor  and  a  duty  for  the 
young  to  toil  for  those  who  are  old. 

"  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  that  thy  days 
may  be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee,"  is  an  old  command  and  promise.  The 
Chinese  Empire  is  hoary  with  age.  Can  one  reason  for 
its  long  life  be  its  obedience  to  this  command? 

Our  Debt  to  the  Italians.  An  Italian,  Columbus,  dis- 
covered the  New  World.  Who,  then,  has  a  better  right  to 
inhabit  it  than  his  own  countrymen  ?  An  Italian  captain, 
Verrazano,  was  the  first  man  to  push  the  prow  of  his 
ship  into  the  harbor  of  what  is  now  the  greatest  city  of 
the  new  world.  Roman  law  rules  the  world  and  her 
treasures  of  art  and  literature  have  enriched  every  nation 
on  earth.  What  school  boy  would  like  to  be  without  the 
story  of  Julius  Caesar,  or  not  to  have  heard  of  the  cack- 


20         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


ling  of  the  geese  high  up  in  the  Capitol  the  night  the  city 
was  in  danger,  and  how  that  cackling  awoke  the  citizens 
and  saved  Rome? 

Our  Debt  to  the  Russians.  As  to  the  Russian,  it  is 
an  ungrateful  American  who  forgets  the  service  rendered 
this  country  in  that  saddest  war  of  history,  when  brothers 
of  the  North  and  South  rose  in  arms  against  each  other. 
France  had  determined  to  found  an  empire  in  Mexico. 
She  knew  that  this  could  be  done  only  after  the  American 
Union  had  been  destroyed.  Russia  refused  to  join  with 
France  and  England  in  the  course  that  might  have  made 
possible  this  division  of  our  country.  In  the  darkest 
days  of  our  struggle  the  Russian  fleet  appeared  at 
American  ports  as  a  pledge  of  her  friendship  and  a 
protest  against  the  attitude  of  these  European  powers. 

Our  Debt  to  the  Jew.  If  we  said  nothing  more  than 
that  through  the  Jew  has  come  the  Bible,  that  gift  would 
place  all  of  us  forever  in  his  debt.  No  other  sacred  book 
tells  us  so  clearly  of  God;  no  other  book  shows  us  so 
truly  how  we  may  obey  Him  and  be  useful,  strong,  and 
holy.    In  no  other  place  are  we  told  the  secret  of  that 

"  City  builded  by  no  hand. 
And  unapproachable  by  sea  or  shore, 
And  unassailable  by  any  band 
Of  storming  soldiery  forever  more." 

It  is  true  some  of  the  Jewish  people  did  oppose 
Christianity,  but  other  Jews  were  the  founders  of  the 
Christian  church. 

Through  the  Jewish  nation  came  our  Lord.  Upon 
the  streets  of  Jewish  cities  "  walked  those  blessed  feet 
that  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  were  nailed,  for  our 
advantage,  to  the  bitter  cross/' 

Kind  neighborliness  to  these  strangers  is  one  way  of 
repaying  our  debt. 


II 

WHY  DO  THEY  COME? 


Lo,  the  tyrant's  days  are  numbered, 
Liberty  no  longer  slumbers, 
Error  dark  no  longer  cumbers; 
Risen  is  the  Sun. 

— H.  A.  Clarke. 


II 


WHY  DO  THEY  COME? 

MIGRATION.  Why  do  such  vast  armies  of  human 
beings  leave  their  homes?  Why  do  they  travel 
weary  miles  over  land  and  sea  and  suffer  such 
hardships  and  privations?  The  causes  would  indeed  be 
urgent  that  would  induce  us  to  take  a  like  journey  and 
leave  behind  our  pleasant,  comfortable  homes.  Can  it  be 
that  the  home  of  the  immigrant  is  not  pleasant  and  com- 
fortable? As  we  continue  our  study  we  shall  find  at 
least  some  of  the  reasons  for  this  greatest  migration  in 
history. 

On  a  beautiful  day  in'  autumn  you  may  have  seen 
large  flocks  of  swallows  wheeling  around  the  steeple 
of  some  old  church — "  a  river  of  winged  life."  Some  one 
has  told  you  they  are  gathering  before  they  migrate. 
"  Oh,  yes,"  you  say,  "  they  are  going  away  because  they 
do  not  like  the  cold  winter."  In  the  spring,  you  have 
seen  a  great  moving  V  in  the  sky  all  made  of  birds,  and 
some  one  has  cried  out,  "  There  go  the  wild  geese,"  and 
you  are  told  that  they  are  journeying  to  the  far,  desolate 
North  where  the  summer  will  soon  be  and  where  no  one 
will  molest  them  while  they  rear  their  young.  So  when 
great  companies  of  people  migrate  there  is  a  good  reason. 
No  one  wants  to  leave  a  comfortable  home  without  good 
cause. 

You  will  be  interested  to  study  the  causes  of  some  of 

23 


24         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


the  great  migrations  in  the  past.  If  you  will  turn  to  the 
Book  of  Exodus  you  will  find  there  the  story  of  a  vast 
human  river  of  slaves  flowing  out  of  Egypt,  across  the 
Red  Sea,  into  the  wilderness.  Why  did  they  migrate? 
What  drove  the  Goths  down  into  the  pleasant  valleys 
of  Italy?  Did  the  richness  of  the  Italian  cities,  the 
fertility  of  the  plains,  and  the  indolence  of  the  inhab- 
itants have  anything  to  do  with  it?  What  brought  the 
Tartars  into  China  where  as  Manchus  they  have  ruled 
300  years,  and  where  their  long  rein  is  now  ended  ?  The 
answer  is  simple.  The  Manchus  were  warlike  Tartars, 
soldiers  of  fortune  of  a  barren  country.  The  Chinese 
were  peace-loving  dwellers  in  fertile  valleys  and  plains. 
The  better  soldier  was  the  victor. 

There  is  no  great  nation  of  ancient  or  modern  times 
but  can  tell  its  own  story  of  migration.  There  once 
crossed  into  England  a  company  of  many  thousands  of 
splendid  craftsmen  bringing  from  France  the  secrets  of 
trades  that  have  helped  make  England  great.  What 
drove  these  Protestant  families  from  their  beloved  land? 
There  rang  in  their  ears  the  solemn  tolling  of  a  great 
palace  bell.  That  bell,  sounding  over  the  city  of  Paris, 
was  the  signal  for  the  death  of  over  forty  thousand  of 
the  noblest  Protestants  of  France.  The  St.  Bartholomew 
massacre  caused  the  migration. 

In  recent  years  a  great  tide  of  Irish  began  to  move 
across  the  Atlantic.  In  ten  years  this  mighty  tide  totaled 
over  one  million  and  a  quarter  human  beings.  The  rea- 
son they  came  was  the  failure  of  the  potato  crop.  The 
potato  was  their  great  food  staple,  as  bread  is  ours.  Great 
armies  of  Germans  began  to  come  after  1848.  It  would 
be  interesting  for  you  to  find  the  reason  of  their  coming. 
How  hard  it  must  be  for  the  Southern  Italian  to  leave 
his  beautiful  home  and  exchange  his  blue  skies  and  hills 


WHY  DO  THEY  COME? 


25 


and  mountains  for  a  dark,  ill-smelling  tenement,  or  for 
toil  far  underground  in  a  mine.  Why  does  he  migrate 
and  in  numbers  so  great  as  to  form  every  year  a  city 
the  size  of  Portland,  Oregon?  We  may  find  the  answer 
farther  along  in  our  studies. 

"  If  I  were  a  Russian,"  some  one  says,  "  I  would 
want  to  leave  home.  The  winter  is  so  long,  there  is  so 
much  ice  and  snow,  I  would  be  glad  to  get  to  a  warmer 
country."  But  the  Russian  loves  his  winter.  He  drives 
his  sankey  with  its  hoop  of  tinkling  bells  arched  high 
over  his  horse's  back  faster  than  any  other  horseman  in 
Europe.  In  his  home  is  a  great  brick  oven  and  on 
top  of  this  the  family  sleeps,  no  matter  how  the  storm 
blows,  as  warm  as  a  Negro  boy  in  a  Southern  cotton 
field.  The  Russian  does  not  leave  his  home  because  of 
the  winter. 

WHY  THEY  BECOME  OUR  NEIGHBORS 

Opportunity.  Some  one  says  another  name  for 
America  is  "  opportunity."  Amid  weeping  and  // 
Signore  vi  Benedica,"  "  God  Bless  You,"  Giuseppe  has 
gone  away.  He  has  been  earning  as  contadino  (farmer) 
20  cents  per  day  and  is  like  a  serf  tied  to  the  land.  He 
earns  in  America  $1.50  a  day,  or  as  much  in  one  day  as 
he  earned  before  in  seven.  Giuseppe  is  frugal.  He  rises 
in  his  position  to  better  pay,  spends  little  money,  and  his 
bank  account  goes  up  until  he  has  a  sum  that  would  have 
seemed  a  fortune  in  the  little  Sicilian  village.  Then, 
work  slacking,  he  returns  home.  His  watch  and  pon- 
derous gold  chain,  his  stylish  American  clothes,  an  exhibi- 
tion of  lofty  independence,  all  make  him  a  marked  man. 

Wherever  you  meet  him  on  the  village  street,  an  awed. 


26         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


admiring  group  of  friends  is  with  him.  He  spreads  the 
glowing  tale  of  the  New  World  and  you  may  be  sure  the 
reality  loses  nothing  in  the  telling.  Every  youthful  heart 
is  fired  to  a  like  adventure,  to  seek  the  golden,  western 
world.  As  one  returned  immigrant  said : — It's  a  land 
where  all  wear  shoes,  where  trains  shoot  through  the  air, 
and  shoot  through  the  ground;  even  the  poor  ride,  no 
one  needs  an  umbrella,  the  cars  pass  everywhere."  It  is 
little  wonder  they  want  to  come.  In  America  labor  is 
dear  and  materials  are  cheap ;  in  Italy  labor  is  cheap  and 
materials  are  expensive.  There  it  pays  a  landlord  to 
hire  a  man  to  watch  his  cows,  rather  than  to  build  a 
fence,  wood  is  so  costly.  In  America  no  one  would 
think  of  hiring  a  man  for  such  a  purpose,  labor  is  so 
high. 

The  price  paid  in  health  and  suffering  for  the  money 
they  take  back  is  often  far  more  than  its  worth.  Many  a 
poor  fellow  pale  and  haggard  with  that  dread  disease, 
tuberculosis,  goes  home  hopeful  that  his  genial  skies  will 
cure  him  of  the  death-blow  the  wet  and  cold  and 
exposure  of  America  have  given  him.  But  the  defeated 
come  home  in  the  twilight,  unattended  and  silent,  while 
the  successful  swagger  in  at  noonday  with  the  blare  of 
trumpet  and  beat  of  drums.  As  one  Italian  said  to  me  no 
later  than  yesterday,  "  My  uncle  never  told  me  the  hard- 
ships I  would  have  to  face.  I  was  far  better  off  in  Italy 
than  here,  but  I  am  ashamed  to  go  back."  And  yet,  all 
who  come  realize  that  the  possibilities  of  success  are  far 
greater  here  than  at  home.  As  another  said,  "  In  Italy 
I  wanted  to  do  but  could  not.  In  America  I  want  to 
and  can.   I  am  sorry,  but  *  Good-bye,  Italy.* " 

The  same  opportunity  for  riches  attracts  the  Chinese. 
He  lives  in  a  land  that,  labor  as  he  will,  is  barely  able  to 
feed  its  almost  half  a  billion  human  mouths.   His  wages 


WHY  DO  THEY  COME? 


27 


at  home,  are  so  meagre  he  can  never  hope  for  indepen- 
dence; two  cents  per  day  is  what  the  farm  laborer  in 
Shantung  earns.  Since  as  a  laborer  he  cannot  legally 
enter  the  United  States,  he  comes  in  under  cover  of  dark- 
ness over  the  Mexican  or  Canadian  borders,  or  any  other 
way  he  can  devise.  The  same  hope  of  wealth  attracts 
the  Chinese. 

Steamship  Advertising.  Many  come  because  the 
steamship  companies  are  such  good  advertisers.  These 
companies  paint  beautiful  pictures  of  the  New  World, 
and  the  peasant  sees  great  farms,  busy  factories,  and 
wealthy  cities.  The  companies  never  show  any  views  of 
dark,  unhealthful  tenements. 

Through  this  steamship  advertising  many  unfit  per- 
sons sail  for  America,  persons  whom  the  agents  might 
have  known  would  be  rejected,  while  many  of  the  lowest 
class  are  induced  to  leave  their  country  because  their 
country  is  glad  to  get  rid  of  them.  It  is  said  that  in  one 
small  district  in  Austria  two  hundred  and  seventy 
criminals  were  released  from  prison  one  year  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty  of  them  were  in  America  within  the 
next  twelve  months. 

The  Commissioner  of  Immigration  at  New  York 
stated  one  year  that  200,000  of  the  one  million  immi- 
grants of  that  year  were  a  real  injury  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  country.  Since  the  steamship  company  must  be 
at  the  expense  of  returning  an  immigrant  who  is  sent 
back,  they  make  doubtful  cases  give  a  bond  repaying 
them  the  return  fare  if  the  immigrant  fails  to  slip  by  the 
"  man  at  the  gate."  Of  course  the  only  interest  the  com- 
pany has  is  to  get  the  immigrant's  money. 

One  steamship  line  anxious  to  make  money  brought 
over  on  one  ship  three  hundred  and  eighty  diseased 
peasants  that  Ellis  Island  promptly  sent  back.  Among 


28         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


those  peasants  were  many  people  of  Montenegro.  The 
Montenegrins  are  great  soldiers.  Tennyson  wrote  of 
them  as 

"  Warriors  beating  back  the  swarm 
Of  Turkish  Islam  for  five  hundred  years.'* 

For  five  hundred  years  they  have  stood  as  a  bulwark 
between  the  Turk  and  Europe.  When  they  reached  the 
home  port,  they  stormed  the  offices  of  the  steamship 
company,  demanding  the  return  of  their  fare,  and  after 
one  look  at  their  determined  faces  the  clerks  promptly 
locked  themselves  in  and  telephoned  the  authorities  for 
help. 

Some  are  induced  to  part  with  all  they  own,  selHng 
their  little  business  and  then,  because  of  ill  health  or 
other  difficulties  that  the  agent  might  easily  have  known, 
are  turned  back  broken-hearted  and  poverty-stricken  to 
the  village  whence  they  came.  Sometimes  they  are  even 
sent  to  ports  entirely  different  from  those  to  which  they 
had  planned  to  go.   This,  of  course,  is  all  wrong. 

The  Employer.  The  reason  back  of  the  coming  of 
many  of  these  people  is  the  employer,  the  man  who  man- 
ages the  railways,  the  mines,  or  large  contracts.  He 
works  through  the  padrones,  and  the  Italian  banks  that 
"  direct  two-thirds  of  the  stream  of  Italian  immigra- 
tion." You  may  be  surprised  to  know  that  the  news  of  a 
big  railroad  contract  reaches  Italy  as  soon  as  we  hear  it. 
If  we  are  to  build  subways  or  barge  canals,  or  carry  an 
underground  river  into  New  York,  or  let  great  railroad 
contracts,  or  make  a  garden  of  the  desert  with  colossal 
irrigation  reservoirs  and  canals,  the  message  flies  under 
the  ocean  to  far-away  Italy  and  there  is  spread  through 
a  thousand  villages. 

The  employer  is  constantly  looking  for  cheaper  labor. 


WHY  DO  THEY  COME? 


29 


Around  his  mine  or  factory  are  American  homes,  practis- 
ing the  "  American  standard  of  Hving."  This  is  a  valu- 
able term  much  in  use  and  since  it  will  occur  again  in 
this  book  we  stop  here  to  explain  what  it  means.  The 
American  standard  of  living  simply  means  the  way  most 
Americans  live.  Do  you  know  that  we  live  better  than 
any  other  people  in  the  world? 

"  I  don't  think  zve  live  well,"  one  boy  says,  "  we  don't 
have  an  automobile,  or  a  pony,  or  a  piano,  and  the  people 
next  door  to  us  do."  But  automobiles,  and  ponies  and 
pianos,  while  pleasant  to  own,  are  not  real  necessities. 
Let  us  take  a  peep  into  the  home  of  a  Chinese  boy.  It  is 
breakfast  time  and  he  is  busy  with  a  bowl  of  rice  and  a 
pair  of  chopsticks.  Do  you  think  you  could  eat  rice  with 
chopsticks?  No!  I  think  you  would  do  much  better 
with  a  spoon.  "  But  doesn't  he  like  milk  and  sugar  on 
his  rice  ?  "  Perhaps  so,  but  neither  milk  nor  sugar  are  in 
sight.  Now,  let  us  look  in  at  dinner.  Here  are  the  same 
boy,  and  the  same  chopsticks,  and  the  same  bowl  with 
more  rice.  "  Where  are  the  bread  and  butter,  the  meat 
and  potatoes,  and  the  dessert?  We  always  have  different 
things  like  that  for  dinner,"  you  say.  The  Chinese  boy 
does  not  seem  to  miss  them ;  what  seems  to  be  troubling 
him  is  the  small  amount  of  rice  left  in  the  bowl. 

Now  take  a  look  through  this  crack  in  the  paper 
window,  (the  father  of  this  little  man  is  too  poor  to 
have  glass  windows  in  his  home,)  and  see  what  our  boy 
has  for  supper.  Why  there  are  the  identical  bowl,  and 
the  identical  chopsticks,  and  what  looks  like  the  identical 
rice,  though  of  course  it  is  not.  "  So  that  is  all  this  boy 
has  had  to  eat  for  breakfast,  dinner  and  supper — only 
rice  ?  "  Yes,  that  is  all,  and  let  me  tell  you  he  is  very 
well  satisfied,  because  he  likes  that  much  better  than 
eating  millet  seed  and  that  is  what  so  many  really  poor 


30         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


Chinese  live  upon.  As  for  rhoes,  our  Chinese  boy  has 
none.  His  clothes  cost  only  a  few  cents  where  yours 
cost  dollars. 

Nor  is  the  Chinese  boy  so  great  an  exception.  The 
standard  of  living  among  the  peasants  in  Russia  is  also 
very  low ;  the  same  is  true  among  the  great  mass  of 
peasants  in  Sicily,  and  remember  these  peasants  form 
the  large  majority  of  the  population.  That  our  standard 
is  not  the  standard  of  living  of  some  nations  may  be 
gathered  from  the  question  of  the  great  Chinese  viceroy, 
Li  Hung  Chang,  when  visiting  America.  After  seeing 
the  ever-present  throngs  of  prosperous-looking  people 
on  the  streets,  he  asked  in  great  surprise,  "  But  where 
are  your  working  people  ?  "  He  did  not  know  that  the 
happy-faced,  well-dressed  people  he  w^as  looking  at  were 
working  people  practising  the  American  standard  of 
living. 

The  immigrant  provides  the  cheap,  unskilled  labor. 
As  he  becomes  influenced  by  American  customs,  he 
requires  better  clothes,  a  room  for  himself  instead  of 
sharing  his  room  with  ten  other  men,  more  pay  as  he 
becomes  more  skilled.  He  wants  shoes  for  his  wife. 
The  American  law  compels  him  to  send  his  children  to 
school  instead  of  making  them  wage-earners  while  little 
children.  As  his  expenses  increase  he  demands  more 
money  that  he  may  live  as  the  people  about  him  live. 
Then  the  employer  begins  to  replace  him  by  labor  cost- 
ing what  he  formerly  cost.  Herein  is  a  remarkable 
story  that  would  fill  many  little  books  like  this.  It 
accounts  for  the  procession  of  the  Welsh,  Scotch,  Irish, 
Germans,  and  Huns  in  the  coal  regions.  It  accounts  for 
practically  all  the  civil  war,  in  the  form  of  bloody  strikes, 
carried  on  m  the  Pennsylvania  coal  fields,  and  much  of 
that-  which  occurs  in  other  industries  throughout  the 


WHY  DO  THEY  COME? 


31 


country,  this  method  of  the  employer  seeking  to  replace 
those  demanding  higher  wages  by  those  willing  to  work 
more  cheaply. 

OPPRESSION 

The  Sicilian.  Many  come  because  of  oppression  in  the 
home  land.  The  Sicilian  lives  in  a  beautiful  country, 
but  w^hile  the  sea  and  the  mountains  are  good  to  look 
upon,  the  people  are  very  poor.  The  farm  worker  can- 
not send  his  boy  to  school  as  boys  go  in  America,  for 
the  rural  schools  are  few.  He  must  pay  such  heavy 
taxes  he  has  little  left  for  himself.  Then,  a  few  rich 
people  own  almost  all  the  land  and  he  must  work  for 
them,  or  starve.  They  pay  him  such  small  wages  he 
cannot  buy  good,  nourishing  food  for  his  children  and 
they  often  suffer  greatly  in  consequence.  You  draw  a 
long  breath  when  you  are  told  his  wages  are  from  eight 
to  thirty-two  cents  per  day.  Many  of  us  use  more  each 
day  in  car-fare  than  a  laborer  in  Sicily  receives  though 
he  works  from  the  time  the  top  of  Etna  is  crimson 
with  morning,  until  the  birds  go  to  sleep.  Even  salt,  so 
cheap  with  us,  is  taxed  so  heavily  he  cannot  use  it  and 
when  he  cooks  his  corn  meal  in  the  salt  water  from  the 
sea  he  is  accused  of  smuggling.  Oppression  is  what 
makes  many  of  these  people  our  neighbors. 

The  Jew.  Let  us  step  in  and  visit  an  old  Jewish  tailor, 
a  saintly  man  who  worships  devoutly  after  the  manner 
of  his  fathers.  I  am  very  careful  not  to  give  him  any 
work  on  Saturday  as  it  grieves  him  to  disoblige  his 
friends,  and  yet  he  will  not  work  on  his  Sabbath  day.  He 
says,  as  do  many  others  of  the  Jewish  race :  "  I  pray 
every  day;  my  son  prays  once  a  week;  my  grandson 
does  not  pray  at  all."   This  old  tailor  speaks  such  broken 


SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


English,  we  will  let  his  daughter  tell  the  story.  "  My 
father  is  almost  eighty  years  of  age;  he  never  worked 
with  his  own  hands  until  he  came  to  America.  He  was 
for  many  years  the  tailor  of  a  Russian  regiment,  making 
all  the  uniforms  for  the  officers  and  having  a  number 
of  men  employed  under  him ;  we  were  well-to-do,  the 
officers  loved  my  father,  but  when  the  riots  arose  it  was 
all  they  could  do  to  save  his  life  and  all  we  had  was 
destroyed.  Now  he  is  an  old  man,  he  should  not  toil  any 
more,  but,"  as  she  shrugs  her  shoulders,  "  who  will  give 
us  bread?" 

A  kindly-faced  man  is  sitting  in  my  office.  He  speaks 
such  good  English  you  can  tell  he  is  a  foreigner  only  by 
the  peculiar  way  he  pronounces  some  words.  He  says 
"  dough "  for  though.  Just  imagine  yourself  sitting 
quietly  by  and  listening,  then  you  will  know  why  many 
thousands  come  to  us  from  one  part  of  Europe.  "  We 
were  friendly  with  all  the  people  of  our  town.  My 
ancestors  had  been  in  the  same  business  for  generations. 
All  the  Russians  trusted  us  and  although  we  were  Jews 
they  would  rather  deal  with  us  than  with  their  own 
countrymen.  One  day  there  had  been  many  murmurs 
around  us;  the  people  had  looked  less  friendly;  they 
were  ignorant,  superstitious  people,  and  they  were  mis- 
erably poor.  Few  of  them  could  read  or  write.  The 
nobility  had  fleeced  them  for  centuries,  but  the  nobility 
was  too  strong  to  be  reached  and  so  as  scapegoats  for  the 
nobles  we  were  pointed  out  as  the  cause  of  their  wretch- 
edness. We  went  to  sleep  that  night,  peaceful,  prosperous 
and  unsuspecting.  At  midnight  our  house  was  in  flames. 
I  never  again  saw  father,  mother,  brothers,  or  sisters 
alive.  I  escaped  in  the  night  and  was  hidden  by  some 
friendly  Russians.  High  above  the  roar  of  the  flames 
and  the  din  and  slaughter  rose  the  hoarse  cry  of  the 


WHY  DO  THEY  COME? 


33 


peasants—-"  Our  Daddy,  the  Tzar,  wants  it.  Our  Daddy, 
the  Tzar,  wants  it."  Alultiply  that  scene  by  thousands  and 
you  have  a  Russian  pogrom.  Oppression  brings  many 
Jews. 

The  Russian.  The  Russian  does  not  leave  his  land 
because  of  the  winter  cold.  He  leaves  it  because  he  dare 
not  speak  out  against  the  wrong  he  sees.  He  is  always 
fearful  of  some  police  spy  making  charges  against  him, 
shutting  him  up  in  prison,  and  sending  him  to  Siberia. 
No  one  is  safe  from  these  spies.  The  Russian  comes  to 
America  because  here  he  can  think  aloud  and  here  he 
can  worship  according  to  the  voice  of  his  own  conscience. 
America  is  his  hope. 

One  of  our  poets  pictures  America  as  she  really  is,  a 
refuge  for  these  fleeing,  hunted  people.  He  shows  how 
the  tyrant  must  give  up  the  chase  and  return  empty- 
handed  when  once  these  poor  people  have  reached  our 
friendly  shores. 

"  There's  freedom  at  thy  gate,  and  rest 
For  earth's  down-trodden  and  opprest, 
A  shelter  for  the  hunted  head. 
For  the  starved  laborer  toil  and  bread. 
Power,  at  thy  bounds. 
Stops,  and  calls  back  his  baffled  hounds." 


I 


I 


Ill 

OUR  JEWISH  NEIGHBOR 


"  O  God-head,  give  me  Truth !  "  the  Hebrew  cried. 
His  pra3^er  was  granted,  he  became  the  slave 
Of  "Truth,"  a  pilgrim  far  and  wide. 
Cursed,  hated,  spurned,  and  scourged,  with  none  to  save. 
Seek  him  to-day,  and  find  in  every  land. 
No  fire  consumes  him,  neither  floods  devour; 
Immortal  through  the  lamp  within  his  hand." 


Ill 


OUR  JEWISH  NEIGHBOR 
,HE  Numbers  that  Come.    So  great  has  been  the 


volume  of  Jewish  immigration  that  the  eyes  of 


the  country  have  been  turned  upon  it  in  anxiety 
and  question.  In  the  ten  years  last  past  1,012,721  have 
come.  The  largest  number  in  any  one  year  was  in  1896, 
when  154,748  passed  through  the  various  ports.  In  191 1, 
94,556  arrived.  To  better  understand  the  meaning  of 
these  figures  let  us  take  a  large  map  of  the  United  States. 
Now  be  ready  with  a  blue  pencil  and  draw  a  circle 
around  the  cities  I  name.  Perhaps  I  shall  name  the 
place  in  which  some  of  you  live.  We  will  start  with  a 
city  right  on  the  Eastern  coast  of  the  United  States, 
where  you  could  step  on  board  a  steamer  and  sail  away 
for  Europe  and  see  the  homes  of  some  of  these  people 
we  are  studying.  The  first  city  is  Bridgeport,  Connecti- 
cut, on  Long  Island  Sound.  The  next  is  the  capital  of 
New  York  State,  the  city  of  Albany.  The  third  city  to 
get  a  blue  circle  is  where  a  famous  university  stands, 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  Then  we  will  journey  away 
West  and  draw  a  blue  pencil  mark  around  the  name  of  a 
city  that  stands  near  a  famous  lake  out  of  which  no  one 
ever  drinks.  Yes,  that  is  the  name,  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah.  While  we  are  West  we  will  mark  Spokane,  Wash- 
ington. Then  we  will  move  South  and  place  a  circle 
about  San  Antonio,  Texas ;  then  come  East  to  Reading, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Trenton,  New  Jersey.    Alichigan  is  a 


37 


38         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


big  state  with  beautiful  forests,  and  we  will  blue  pencil 
the  city  of  Grand  Rapids.  One  more  city  is  needed  to 
made  the  ten.  If  none  of  you  lives  in  the  cities  I  have 
named  perhaps  you  may  live  in  the  last  one  we  mark, 
Kansas  City,  Kansas.  I  hear  some  one  say,  "  Why  do 
you  ask  us  to  place  a  circle  about  these  cities  ?  "  Because 
I  want  you  to  know  that  in  the  last  ten  years  enough 
Jews  entered  the  United  States  to  make  ten  as  populous 
cities  as  the  ones  we  have  just  marked. 

From  Where  Does  the  Jew  Come?  Five-sixths  of 
the  Jewish  immigration  comes  from  Russia.  While  the 
Jews  number  probably  11,000,000  in  the  world,  about 
5,000,000  of  them  live  in  that  empire,  mostly  in  w^hat  is 
called  the  Jewish  Pale  of  Settlement.  Why  there  are  so 
many  in  Russia  needs  a  brief  statement.  Poland  invited 
the  Jews  to  settle  within  her  borders  in  order  to  build 
up  her  cities.  Here  was  gathered  the  largest  population 
of  Jews  since  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  In  some  of 
the  provinces  of  Poland  the  Jews  number  one-sixth,  and 
in  some  of  the  cities  one-half  of  the  population.  When 
Poland  was  divided  between  Russia,  Prussia  and 
Austria,  fifteen  provinces  fell  to  the  share  of  Russia. 
These  form  the  Pale  of  Settlement,  for  there  the  Jew 
is  allowed  to  dwell  and  there  he  is  engaged  in  all  forms 
of  industry,  including  farming. 

Why  They  Come.  We  have  learned  some  reasons 
why  the  Jew  leaves  Russia.  Other  reasons  are  his 
desire  for  a  better  education  for  his  children,  freedom 
to  engage  in  any  business  he  may  choose,  and  the  priv- 
ilege of  worshipping  God  and  of  saying  what  he  thinks 
without  danger  of  arrest  and  imprisonment.  Strange  as 
it  seems  to  us,  there  are  still  many  places  in  the  world 
where  if  a  man  thinks  the  judge  or  the  ruler  has  done 
wrong  he  dares  not  say  so  openly.    If  he  were  heard  to 


OUR  JEWISH  NEIGHBOR  39 


criticise  them  he  would  be  in  danger  of  prison.  Some- 
times when  wc  complain  of  our  own  country  we  forget 
how  fortunate  we  are  to  live  in  such  a  land  of  liberty. 

Let  us  now  find  some  of  the  reasons  for  the  Russian 
hatred  of  the  Jew.  There  could  be  no  such  merciless 
persecution  of  any  race  without  some  cause,  and  it  is 
pretty  well  understood  that  the  Russian  government 
encourages  and  often  provokes  the  attacks  upon  these 
people.  The  Russians  dislike  the  Jews  because  the  Jews 
are  not  Christians,  and  because  they  are  much  smarter 
business  men  than  the  average  Russian,  and  would  soon 
own  all  the  land  of  the  ignorant  peasants  if  they  were 
allowed  to  live  among  them  and  loan  them  money;  the 
American  Indian  was  cheated  in  this  way  by  the  smarter 
and  better  educated  white  man.  Then  the  government 
does  not  like  the  Jew  because  the  Russian  government  is 
corrupt  and  does  not  want  the  people  to  have  a  voice 
in  governing  themselves,  and  the  Jew  stands  for  the 
rights  of  the  common  people.  Thus  we  see  that  while 
there  is  some  just  cause  for  dislike  of  the  Jew,  there  are 
other  reasons  why  he  should  be  praised  and  commended. 

As  a  Good  Citizen.  The  Jew,  having  no  country  of 
his  own  has  yet  always  been  loyal  to  that  of  his  adoption. 
The  records  show  that  when  war  came  the  Jew  was 
willing  to  shed  his  blood  for  his  adopted  land.  They  are 
good  to  their  own  poor,  providing  hospitals  for  their  sick, 
and  homes  for  children  who  are  without  father  or 
mother.  The  Bible  tells  us  of  the  love  of  David  for 
Absalom  and  the  Hebrew  king's  prayer  for  the  recovery 
of  his  little  sick  son.  The  Jew  is  no  different  to-day,  he 
is  kind  and  aff'ectionate  in  his  home.  We  know  the  evil 
the  saloon  does  in  every  city  and  town  and  village  in 
America  where  it  exists.  The  Jew  is  generally  an  enemy 
of  the  saloon.    The  liquor  business  does  not  prosper 


40 


SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


where  he  Hves.  The  Jews  are  lovers  of  books  and  educa- 
tion, and  some  of  the  greatest  scholars,  musicians,  artists, 
and  writers  of  the  world  have  been  Jews.  Some  of  the 
noblest  people  who  come  to  America  are  to  be  found 
among  the  Hebrew  immigrants. 

Not  All  Money  Lovers.  Jewish  people  are  often 
accused  of  prizing  money  more  highly  than  any  other 
race  and  of  setting  a  greater  value  upon  it  than  they  do 
upon  either  truth  or  justice.  Some  years  ago  a  great 
strike  took  place  in  New  York  among  the  garment 
workers,  who  were  mostly  Jews.  It  lasted  till  the  savings 
of  the  workers  were  exhausted.  I  was  talking  with  one 
of  the  strike  leaders  one  day  and  he  produced  a  letter  he 
had  just  received  from  his  former  employer.    It  said, 

If  you  will  come  back  I  will  make  you  foreman  and 
double  your  salary."  I  knew  the  man  was  without  any 
money,  and  I  asked,  "  What  will  you  reply?"  "  There  is 
only  one  reply,"  he  said  as  he  tore  up  the  letter,  "  I 
couldn't  accept  because  I  couldn't  be  a  traitor." 

The  cheerful  suffering  that  goes  on  among  many  East 
Side  Jewish  strikers  is  heroic,  for  they  feel  that  they  are 
fighting  for  principle  and  these  battles  that  mean  less 
food,  thinner  garments  for  the  winter  winds  to  pierce, 
and  less  fire  in  the  homes,  are  fought  with  astonishing 
cheerfulness.  In  fact,  it  would  be  well  for  old  as  well  as 
young  folks  to  remember  that  the  great  battles  being 
fought  in  these  days  are  not  with  machine  guns ;  these 
settle  no  principle.  But  the  right  to  live,  the  right  to  live 
better  than  the  brutes,  the  conviction  that  all  one's  time 
should  not  be  required  in  the  struggle  for  bread,  for 
shelter  and  for  clothes,  that  the  life  is  more  than  meat, 
and  the  body  than  raiment, — for  these  things  the  Jews 
fight  by  enduring  hunger,  sorrow  and  even  death  for  the 


OUR  JEWISH  NEIGHBOR 


41 


sake  of  simple  justice.  They  are  the  preachers  of  world 
brotherhood. 

We  do  not  mean  that  all  Jews  can  be  placed  in  this 
exalted  class.  Among  them  are  the  hardest  and  most 
merciless  task-masters.  Just  the  other  day  I  heard  a 
Russian  complain  bitterly  because  the  Jews  for  whom  he 
had  been  expelled  from  Russia  were  paying  him  the 
pitiful  salary  of  $4.00  per  week  for  his  toil.  But  among 
them  are  a  great  multitude  of  noble  men  and  women 
battHng  for  a  better  day. 

The  Jew  Intellectually.  If  I  were  to  ask  the  question, 
"  Are  Jewish  boys  and  girls  at  the  head  or  at  the  foot 
of  their  classes  in  school?  "  I  know  the  answer  would  be, 
"  They  are  at  the  head."  The  Jew  is  delighted  at  the 
boundless  opportunities  for  education  in  America.  He 
is  like  one  long  locked  out  from  a  treasure  which  he 
could  see  but  could  not  touch. 

As  a  Business  Man.  As  a  money  getter  the  Jew  is 
without  a  peer  in  the  world  to-day;  he  seems  to  possess 
the  golden  touch  we  read  of  in  the  Wonder  Book.  But 
when  we  know  how  it  is  done  there  is  little  mystery 
about  it.  A  Jewish  family  sent  their  children  to  my 
Sunday-school.  They  were  poorly  dressed  and  had 
the  appearance  of  being  ill-fed.  After  a  year  or  two 
these  signs  of  poverty  disappeared  and  there  was  every 
evidence  of  comfort.  I  wondered  what  the  cause  might 
be  and  said  to  the  children.  "  Your  father  is  doing  better, 
is  he  not?  "  "  Oh,  yes,"  they  said,  "  he  has  gotten  over 
the  hard  times  he  had  when  he  went  into  business.  He 
always  used  to  get  up  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  and 
go  to  the  factory  and  get  the  work  ready  before  the 
tailors  came.  Then  after  they  were  gone  he  used  to 
work  until  eight  or  nine  o'clock  every  night,  but  he  has 


42         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


a  good  business  now  and  doesn't  work  so  hard."  Most 
men  would  succeed  if  they  worked  such  long  hours. 

The  Jew  Spiritually.  The  Jew  is  a  religious  man  but 
he  seems  to  be  losing  his  rehgion  in  America.  In  Europe 
the  synagogue  was  a  rallying  point,  in  America  the 
rallying  place  is  the  Labor  Union,  and  many  have  turned 
away  from  the  old  faith.  Family  life,  once  loyal  and 
beautiful,  now  shows  many  desertions,  the  father  leaving 
the  family  to  care  for  itself.  The  streets  at  night  are 
trodden  by  too  many  Jewish  girls,  and  the  criminal 
courts  are  thronged  with  too  many  Jewish  boys.  Con- 
tempt for  old  age  is  one  of  the  saddest  products  of 
American  life.  I  have  frequently  seen  young  Jewish 
boys,  twelve  and  fifteen  years  of  age,  mocking  Jews  as 
venerable  as  Abraham,  both  by  pulling  their  beards  and 
by  sundry  insults.  The  ignorance  of  Jewish  children  on 
sacred  things  is  widespread.  It  is  a  question  if  any 
religious  body  has  a  more  solemn  festival  than  the  Day 
of  Atonement.  It  is  supposed  to  be  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  but  the  restaurants  are  full,  and  numerous  Jewish 
organizations  use  the  day  to  make  money  by  hiring  a  hall 
and  selling  the  seats  at  a  good  profit  to  all  who  can  be 
induced  to  buy.  Many  Jews  who  are  members  of  congre- 
gations never  attend  service  except  on  two  or  three  of 
the  principal  fast  days. 

And  yet,  careless  as  the  Jew  may  be  of  his  old  time 
religious  faith,  Christianity  calls  forth  the  bitterest 
opposition.  He  cannot  forget  the  many  things  he  has 
suffered  in  the  name  of  the  Christian  church. 


IV 

OUR  RUSSIAN  NEIGHROR 


"  Come,  clear  the  way,  then,  clear  the  way : 
Blind  creeds  and  kings  have  had  their  day. 
Break  the  dead  branches  from  the  path  : 
Our  hope  is  in  the  aftermath; 
Our  hope  is  in  heroic  men, 
Star-led,  to  build  the  world  again. 
To  this  event  the  ages  ran : 

Make  way  for  Brotherhood — make  way  for  man." 


IV 


OUR  RUSSIAN  NEIGHBOR 

I MENTION  the  Russian  not  because  large  immigration 
has  set  in  from  Russia,  but  because  I  am  personally 
acquainted  with  work  among  these  people  and 
because  they  are  coming  in  increased  numbers.  When 
the  Russian  wishes  to  change  his  home,  he  is  usually 
directed  to  some  part  of  his  own  vast  empire,  and  large 
numbers  are  settling  in  what  was  one  time  thought  to  be 
ice-bound  Siberia,  and  are  there  successfully  engaged  in 
farming.  There  is,  however,  a  constantly  rising  tide  of 
immigration  among  the  Russians.  In  1901,  672  entered 
the  United  States.  In  191 1,  20,121,  the  largest  number 
to  date,  was  reported  by  the  Commissioner  of  Immigra- 
tion. 

Intellectually.  There  is  much  ignorance  among  these 
newcomers.  Over  thirty  in  every  one  hundred  who 
landed  in  191 1  did  not  know  how  either  to  read  or  write. 
A  number  of  the  Russians  in  New  York  are  revolution- 
ists of  various  classes ;  they  are  almost  always  led  by  the 
Jew,  who  acts  as  public  speaker  and  general  leader  in 
most  Russian  affairs.  About  two-thirds  of  those  who 
come  are  unskilled  farm  laborers  and  common  laborers. 

Religiously.  While  a  large  number  of  those  who  land 
are  members  of  the  Russian  Greek  Church,  most  of  them 
are  members  of  groups  hostile  to  the  church,  although 
many  of  this  latter  class  are  unusually  fine  men.  They 
are  exiles  from  their  country  for  causes  that  would  often 

45 


46         SOME  BIMIGRAXT  NEIGHBORS 


bring  them  honor  in  any  really  enlightened  land.  In  fact, 
America  has  little  idea  of  the  great  riches  in  heroism, 
sacrifice  and  splendid  lives  that  are  hidden  away  in  the 
forbidding  tenements  of  its  great  cities.  The  Russians' 
dislike  of  the  church  is  deep  seated  and  intense,  for  the 
Church  of  Russia  has  been  the  judge  that  sentenced 
them,  the  jailer  that  imprisoned  them,  the  knout  that 
whipped  them.  The  Greek  Church  in  many  ways  is  an 
out-of-date  church.  It  is  an  enemy  of  progress  and  free 
thought,  the  greatest  ally  of  a  cruel  government.  These 
men,  knowing  no  other  church  than  that  of  Russia,  do 
not  understand  the  difference  between  the  Christianity 
found  in  America  and  this  church  of  the  Middle  Ages  in 
Russia. 

One  of  the  best  loved  and  most  influential  Russians 
in  New  York  City  said  to  me  recently,  "  My  wish  is  to 
elevate  my  countrymen.  Too  many  of  them  hold  their 
club  meetings  in  saloons  and  are  given  over  to  drinking 
habits.  But  I  cannot  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
Christian  church,  for  if  I  did  I  would  be  compelled  to 
forget  how  the  church  has  injured  me  and  I  have  suffered 
too  much  from  it  to  do  that."  The  Jews  share  in  this 
attitude  of  the  Russian  toward  the  church. 

"  Can  any  country  afford  to  lose  such  men?"  I  put 
that  question  to  myself  as  I  looked  over  an  audience  of 
six  hundred  stalwart  young  Russians,  their  faces  alight 
with  intelligence,  their  whole  bearing  showing  sturdy 
self-reliance,  and  yet  lovable  and  teachable,  withal.  The 
place  was  an  East  Side  hall,  and  the  occasion  a  gathering 
to  do  honor  to  a  Russian  fellow  countryman,  and  to 
enjoy  a  Russian  play.  The  countryman  was  an  exile 
because  he  wished  to  hasten  the  day  of  freedom  for  his 
beloved  land.  He  was  a  man  with  a  noble,  melancholy 
face,  and  eyes  that  looked  love  and  friendship.  One 


OUR  RUSSIAN  NEIGHBOR 


47 


wondered  what  that  scholarly  man  could  have  done  to 
have  the  sentence  of  death  passed  upon  him.  ' 

The  play  when  given  in  Russia  was  immediately  sup- 
pressed, and  yet  it  is  founded  on  an  actual  happening. 
Imagine  yourself  with  me  at  the  Russian  hall ;  let  us  take 
a  seat  and  hear  what  the  play  is  about  and  maybe  we  shall 
learn  why  it  is  that  many  Russians  do  not  like  the  church. 
The  players  will  speak  in  Russian,  but  we  shall  understand 
them  for  we  shall  have  some  one  beside  us  to  translate  the 
Russian  into  English. 

Now  all  is  quiet.  Here  enters  a  young  student  in  a 
red  shirt  and  big  top  boots.  He  feels  very  important,  for 
he  has  just  arrived  home  from  the  University  at  St. 
Petersburg.  His  sister  is  with  him.  They  are  talking 
about  a  monastery  in  their  village.  You  know  how  the 
great  monastery  near  us  deceives  the  people,"  says  the 
brother.  You  know  how  the  monks  pretend  the  sacred 
ikoti  (image)  on  the  altar  works  miracles,  and  how  the 
poor  peasants  have  to  give  the  monks  hard-earned  money. 
You  know  how  these  cheats  tell  the  authorities  of  any  one 
who  says  he  is  dissatisfied  with  the  government.  And 
you  know,  too,  that  these  monks  are  not  good  men." 

"  Yes,"  the  sister  says,  "  I  am  sorry  that  what  you  say 
is  true.  The  monastery  ought  to  be  a  great  blessing  to  our 
village,  but  instead  it  is  a  great  curse." 

Then,"  cries  the  student,  walking  up  and  down  and 
much  excited,  "  I  am  going  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  people 
and  show  them  that  the  monastery  is  a  wicked  fraud." 

"  How  will  you  do  it  ? "  exclaims  his  sister,  greatly 
alarmed.  "  Please  do  nothing  that  will  cause  the  police 
to  send  you  to  prison." 

There  comes  a  knock  at  the  door ;  the  brother  opens  it, 
and  in  walks  one  of  the  monks  from  the  monastery.  He 
is  such  an  unclean,  repulsive-looking  man  you  would 


48         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


want  to  run  away  from  him  if  you  met  him  on  a  lonely 
road.  He  does  not  look  at  all  like  the  priests,  or 
preachers,  we  know.  He  holds  out  a  tin  cup  and  whines, 
"  Please  help  a  poor  friar  who  is  begging  for  holy 
church."  All  the  Russians  in  the  audience  laugh  in  de- 
rision when  they  hear  the  whining  voice. 

"Why  is  the  church  in  need  of  money?"  asks  the 
student. 

"  We  need  money,"  whines  the  monk,  because  the 
people  no  longer  visit  us  as  in  years  past,  and  since  they 
do  not  bring  money  in  we  monks  must  collect  it." 

"  But,"  persisted  the  questioner,  "  why  have  the 
moujiks  stopped  visiting  you?" 

"  They  do  not  believe  in  holy  church  nor  in  the  sacred 
ikon  as  they  once  did."  (The  ikon  on  the  altar  of  this 
monastery  was  believed  to  have  worked  many  wonders.) 

What  the  church  needs  is  some  miracle  to  restore  the 
faith  of  the  peasants,"  and  the  monk  seems  very  sad, 
probably  because  he  would  rather  sit  down  comfortably 
at  home  than  walk  the  muddy  Russian  roads  begging 
alms. 

Why  do  you  deceive  the  peasants  ?  "  says  the  indig- 
nant student.  "  You  know  your  sacred  ikon  never  cured 
anybody,  nor  worked  any  miracle.  I  will  give  you  the 
dynamite  if  you  will  blow  it  up."  The  monk  admits  the 
ikon  worship  is  a  fraud  and  says  finally  after  a  long  dis- 
cussion, "  I  will  place  the  dynamite  under  the  image  and 
blow  it  up." 

When  the  time  comes  to  explode  the  dynamite,  the 
monk  is  afraid  and  confesses  the  plot  to  the  Abbot. 
"  Let  us  blow  up  the  altar,"  says  the  Abbot ;  "  we  can 
say  the  anarchists  did  it,  but  we  will  first  remove  the 
ikon  and  then  tell  the  people  a  miracle  was  wrought — • 
the  altar  was  destroyed,  but  the  image  was  saved." 


The  Home  of  a  Russian  Peasant 


A  Russian  Moujik  and  His  Family 


OUR  RUSSIAN  NEIGHBOR 


49 


So  the  altar  is  blown  up  after  the  priest  has  removed 
the  image.  The  people  are  told  it  is  a  marvelous  miracle 
and  the  church  is  crowded  again,  each  peasant  not  for- 
getting to  leave  his  copeck,  half  a  cent,  as  he  departs. 

After  the  explosion,  the  student  says,  I  will  go  to  the 
monastery  and  when  the  great  crowds  of  peasants  are 
coming  out  of  the  chapel  I  will  tell  them  just  how  great 
a  fraud  the  latest  miracle  is."  So  he  goes  and  tells  the 
people  how  grossly  the  monks  are  deceiving  them  and 
that  it  was  his  plan  that  destroyed  the  altar.  Do  the 
people  believe  him?  Oh,  no.  They  believe  what  the 
priests  tell  them  and  they  are  so  angry  with  the  young 
informer  for  saying  he  blew  up  the  altar  and  for  trying 
to  open  their  eyes  that  they  kill  him. 

"  But,"  some  one  says,  "  we  have  been  looking  at  and 
hearing  only  a  play."  Yes,  that  is  true,  but  it  is  a  true 
play,  for  all  you  saw  actually  happened  in  Russia,  and 
it  is  the  deception  of  such  monks  that  has  made  so  many 
Russians  hate  the  church  and  hate  God. 

You  noticed  how  the  audience  leaned  forward  in  their 
seats,  each  seeing  in  that  picture  his  own  story,  the 
forces  that  drove  him  far  from  his  fatherland.  You  also 
remember  what  the  interpreter  said  at  a  great  burst  of 
applause,  the  greatest  of  the  night,  when  we  asked, 
''What  was  that  for?"  "Why,"  said  the  interpreter, 
"  you  will  be  surprised  to  know  what  they  are  applaud- 
ing. In  reply  to  the  question  as  to  who  was  his  most 
bitter  enemy,  the  actor  has  just  said,  '  My  greatest  enemy 
is  God;  through  God  and  the  church  come  all  my 
troubles.'  " 

It  is  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  the  Christians  of 
America  to  introduce  these  Russians  to  a  true  church, 
and  to  instruct  them  in  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God. 


OUR  ITALIAN  NEIGHBOR 


"  Genoese  boy  of  the  level  brow, 
Lad  of  the  lustrous,  dreamy  eyes 
Astare  at  Manhattan's  pinnacles  now 
In  the  first,  sweet  shock  of  a  hushed  surprise; 
I  catch  the  glow  of  the  wild  surmise 
That  played  on  the  Santa  Maria's  prow 
In  that  still  gray  dawn, 
Four  centuries  gone, 

When  a  world  from  the  wave  began  to  rise." 

—R.  H.  Schauffler, 


V 


OUR  ITALIAN  NEIGHBOR 

NUMBERS.    Our  immigrant  neighbor  that  has  at- 
tracted the  most  attention  in  the  last  decade  has 
been  the  ItaHan.    He  has  attracted  this  notice, 
first,  because  of  his  great  numbers  and,  second,  because 
of  the  inferior  quality  as  compared  with  much  previous 
immigration. 

Over  two  millions  have  come  from  Italy  in  the  past 
ten  years,  and  the  numbers  show  little  prospect  of  dimin- 
ishing. This  stream  that  two  decades  ago  was  but  a  tiny 
rivulet  is  now  a  human  Amazon.  The  Amazon  of  South 
America  pours  so  vast  a  tide  into  the  ocean  that  the 
sailor  while  far  from  sight  of  land  may  yet  dip  his 
bucket  overboard  and  draw  up  fresh  water.  We  may 
well  inquire  about  these  people  who  are  flowing  in  so 
vast  a  flood  into  the  sea  of  our  American  life. 

In  the  year  ending  June  30,  191 1,  213,360  Italian  immi- 
grants entered.  In  1910,  233,453  were  admitted.  The 
largest  number  entering  in  any  one  year  was  in  1907, 
when  294,061  passed  through  the  various  entry  ports. 

When  we  are  dealing  in  millions  figures  suggest  little 
or  nothing  to  us.  Let  us  take  another  method  to  show 
the  large  numbers  of  this  one  nationality  that  are  pouring 
in  through  all  our  gates. 

Imagine  the  two  millions  of  the  last  ten  years  drawn 
up  in  a  single  line,  each  holding  the  hand  of  the  fellow 

53 


54         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


countryman  on  his  right  and  left.  How  far  will  this 
human  chain  extend? 

Suppose  we  step  aboard  a  train  at  New  York.  We 
pass  along  the  Palisade-bordered  Hudson,  past  Yonkers, 
West  Point,  Poughkeepsie,  Hudson  and  Albany,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles.  These  black-eyed  children  of  Italy 
line  the  track  all  the  way.  At  Albany  we  turn  west  and 
go  to  Utica,  Syracuse,  Rochester  and  Buffalo.  We  have 
come  over  four  hundred  miles  and  still  the  line  is 
unbroken.  Here  the  porter  makes  up  our  sleeping  berth, 
and  all  through  the  night,  past  Detroit  and  into  Chicago, 
the  metropolis  of  the  Middle  West,  along  a  thousand 
miles  of  railroad  stretches  our  imaginary  hand-clasped 
line.  From  Chicago  we  journey  still  further  toward  the 
sunset  until  we  rumble  across  the  Father  of  Waters  and 
into  the  station  at  St.  Louis.  Surely  these  endless  faces 
are  no  longer  beside  our  train.  But  there  they  are ;  west- 
ward still  extends  our  immigrant  line.  From  St.  Louis 
we  travel  right  across  the  state  of  Missouri  to  Kansas 
City,  almost  three  hundred  miles.  Our  train  moves  so 
fast  across  the  level  country  that  the  hand-clasped 
strangers  seem  like  closely  placed  pickets  in  an  endless 
fence,  but  still  the  line  is  there  and  we  must  travel  one 
hundred  miles  across  Kansas  before  the  last  of  that 
endless  chain  waves  us  farewell.  And  all  these  have  come 
in  ten  years. 

The  Italian  Compared  with  Former  Immigrants,  The 
earliest  immigration  to  America  was  not  that  of  the 
peasant  class.  "  It  was  the  middle  class  tradesman  and 
the  stout,  independent  yeoman."  The  immigration  of  a 
few  years  ago,  as  is  well  known,  was  from  Northern 
Europe,  bringing  the  German,  the  Scotch,  the  English, 
the  Irish,  the  Welsh  and  the  Scandinavian.  These  were 
races  from  the  temperate  zone  who  had  gained  culture 


OUR  ITALIAN  NEIGHBOR  55 


and  the  virtues  of  a  Christian  civilization,  largely  Prot- 
estant, through  long  centuries  of  intelligent  struggle. 
The  Italian  immigrant  of  today  is  from  Southern  Italy. 
The  Northern  Italian,  more  skilled  and  better  educated, 
does  not  come  to  the  United  States  in  any  large  numbers ; 
his  goal  is  mainly  Argentina  and  Brazil,  in  South 
America. 

The  Italians  from  Sicily  have  lacked  educational  ad- 
vantages. If,  when  they  land  at  the  Battery  from  ElHs 
Island,  you  asked  them  to  read  the  name  of  the  street 
upon  the  lamp  post,  sixty  out  of  every  hundred  would 
shake  their  heads.  In  the  public  schools  the  Italian  is  by 
no  means  so  clever  as  some  of  the  other  immigrants,  nor 
is  he  employing  his  leisure  time  in  so  wise  a  manner  as 
is  the  Jew,  for  instance. 

Thrift.  The  Italian  is  frugal  and  thrifty.  Most  of 
them  seem  to  have  money.  A  poor  woman  exclaimed  at 
one  of  our  free  Saturday  night  concerts  some  time  ago, 
*'  O  Signore,  some  one  has  robbed  me."  I  looked  at 
her  and  thought  to  myself,  She  is  so  poorly  dressed  I 
do  not  believe  she  has  lost  much,"  but  I  said,  *'  Come  and 
see  me  after  the  concert."  On  talking  with  her  I  found 
that  the  thief  had  been  better  informed  than  I,  for  he 
had  cut  the  skirt  of  her  dross  with  a  knife  and  had  taken 
$80  which  was  in  an  inside  pocket.  It  is  no  unusual  sight 
for  a  laborer  to  draw  from  his  wallet  a  roll  of  bills 
amounting  to  $50  or  more  to  pay  for  a  ten  cent  spelling 
book  in  our  night  school.  The  amount  of  real  estate  the 
Italians  own  in  New  York  is  very  large ;  some  years  ago 
it  was  estimated  at  over  sixty  millions.  It  is  probably 
more  than  double  that  today.  Some  of  them  own  tene- 
ments and  rent  rooms  that  are  slept  in  by  day  by  one  shift 
of  men  and  at  night  by  another. 

One  must  be  careful  that  he  is  not  an  innocent  party 


56         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


to  placing  children  in  orphan  asylums  and  other  such 
homes  to  be  educated  at  the  public's  expense  when  the 
family  is  entirely  able  to  support  its  own  children.  An 
Italian  woman  wished  me  to  place  her  two  boys  in  col- 
lege." By  "  college  "  she  meant  an  orphan  asylum.  When 
I  investigated  I  found  that  she  was  married,  had  a  hus- 
band who  was  in  perfect  health,  and  was  herself  worth 
between  three  and  four  thousand  dollars.  The  church 
receives  very  little  financial  support  from  these  people, 
although  they  are  lavish  enough  when  it  comes  to  a  big 
display  at  a  wedding,  a  christening,  or  a  funeral.  The 
money  paid  for  bands  to  walk  before  the  hearse  must 
amount  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  every  year 
in  the  Italian  colony  of  New  York  City. 

Hozv  They  Are  Misused.  There  is  no  question  but  that 
the  Italian  earns  the  money  that  is  paid  him  in  America ; 
no  better  laborers  ever  came  to  these  shores,  and  the  way 
they  are  sometimes  misused  is  shameful.  I  saw  once  a 
pitiful  exhibition  of  this.  It  was  an  August  day,  one  of 
the  most  intensely  hot  I  had  ever  experienced,  and  all  the 
worse  because  it  was  in  a  long  succession  of  stifling  days 
and  nights.  Everywhere  men  were  stopping  their  horses 
and  cooling  them  off  with  the  hose,  or  with  pails  of  water 
and,  despite  it  all,  dead  horses  were  lying  in  all  the  prin- 
cipal thoroughfares. 

An  Irish  boss  was  foreman  of  a  gang  of  Italians  that 
was  asphalting  a  city  street.  A  line  was  drawn  down  the 
middle  of  the  street  and  the  force  divided,  each  gang 
taking  the  part  on  either  side  of  the  line  from  the  middle 
of  the  street  to  the  curb.  The  gang  that  asphalted  their 
half  of  the  block  first  would  receive  as  reward  a  keg  of 
beer  that  stood  perched,  temptingly,  on  an  elevated  plat- 
form at  the  end  of  the  street.  I  do  not  remember  ever 
seeing  elsewhere  human  beings  driven  at  such  inhuman 


OUR  ITALIAN  NEIGHBOR 


57 


speed ;  it  was  a  cruel  proof  of  what  greed  and  a  total  dis- 
regard of  the  welfare  of  tlie  poor  immigrants  could  fur- 
nish. 

A  writer  in  Everybody's  ^lagazine  "  saw  the  state- 
ment of  the  press  agent  of  the  Erie  Railroad  that  no  lives 
had  been  lost  in  cutting  the  great  open  air  rock  entrance 
of  the  Erie  into  Jersey  City.  He  was  interested  enough 
to  investigate  it,  and  he  learned  of  twenty-five  who  were 
killed  and  so  many  who  were  injured  that  a  partial  list 
filled  four  newspaper  columns,  a  year  before  the  work 
was  completed.  Why,"  he  asked,  "  was  it  said  that 
no  lives  were  lost  ?  "  "  Because,"  was  the  reply,  "  the 
killed  were  only  Wops  (Huns)  and  Dagoes." 

Spiritually.  The  Italian  is  naturally  religious,  and 
when  converted  he  becomes  an  earnest,  intelligent  fol- 
lower of  Christ.  We  must  not  fail  to  tell  him  the  story 
of  "  Jesus  and  his  love." 


VI 

OUR  CHINESE  NEIGHBOR 


"  Dago,"  and  "  Sheeney,"  and  "  Chink," 
"Greaser,"  and  "Nigger,"  and  "Jap"; 
From  none  of  them  doth  Jehovah  shrink. 

He  Hfteth  them  all  to  His  lap, 
And  the  Christ,  in  His  kingly  grace, 
When  their  sad,  low  sob  He  hears, 
Puts  His  tender  embrace  around  the  race 

As  He  kisses  away  its  tears, 
Saying,  O  "  least  of  these,"  I  link 
Thee  to  Me  for  whatever  may  hap, 
"  Dago,"  and  "  Sheeney,"  and  "  Chink," 
"  Greaser,"  and  "  Nigger,"  and  "  Jap." 

— Bishop  Mclntyre. 


VI 


OUR  CHINESE  NEIGHBOR 


iHE  Misunderstood  Chinese.    The  Chinese  are 


the  most  misunderstood  people  in  America,  and 


the  reason  is  probably  found  in  the  Celestials 
themselves.  No  author  in  writing  about  this  myriad 
people  feels  that  he  can  give  an  account  of  the  Chinese 
in  one  province,  or  city,  or  village,  that  he  is  sure  will 
hold  good  in  another.  The  earliest  bit  of  wisdom  con- 
cerning the  Chinese  that  I  remember  acquiring  was  the 
statement  in  an  old  geography  that  to  write  one's  name 
in  Chinese  characters  was  a  sure  way  of  winning  their 
favor.  I  now  know  that  I  am  no  surer  of  winning  the 
favor  of  a  Chinaman  by  writing  my  name  in  Chinese 
characters  than  a  Chinese  would  be  of  winning  my  favor 
by  writing  his  name  in  English  letters.  But  the  writer 
of  the  old  geography  may  have  been  acquainted  with 
some  place  in  China  where  what  he  states  was  true. 

In  our  short  account  of  these  people  we  can  catch  but 
a  fleeting  glance,  seeing  little  more  than  the  curious  Chi- 
nese himself,  who,  when  he  wants  to  get  a  peep  inside 
a  house  applies  a  wet  finger  to  a  paper  window  so  that 
when  the  digit  is  withdrawn  there  remains  a  tiny  hole 
through  which  an  observant  eye  may  at  least  see  some- 


Unchanging  China.  What  force  was  back  of  the  move- 
ment that  reached  its  height  in  1892,  when  almost  40,000 
of  these  people  landed  in  America  ?  What  caused  the  first 


thing. 


61 


62         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


large  migration  from  China  to  the  United  States  ?  Today 
very  few  come.  In  191 1  but  5,657  Chinese  entered,  while 
7,065  went  back  to  China. 

That  the  Chinese  would  require  some  powerful  force 
to  set  this  tide  in  motion,  a  few  instances  would  indicate. 
The  Chinese  do  the  same  thing  in  the  same  way  today 
as  their  ancestors  did  it  five  hundred  years  ago.  If  a 
village  street  is  so  crooked  that  one  must  walk  an  extra 
mile,  no  one  would  think  of  straightening  the  street.  If 
the  village  well  was  the  source  of  water  supply  in  the 
past  centuries,  the  substitution  of  a  pump  would  not  be 
thought  of,  as  it  would  be  an  insult  to  the  past.  They 
dislike  even  the  most  trivial  changes;  the  altering  of  the 
time  of  the  regular  hour  of  meetings ;  a  re-arrangement 
in  the  seating  of  their  class  rooms,  or  the  transfer  of  a 
teacher,  all  disturb  them.  Because  things  used  to  be  done 
in  such  and  such  a  way  is  the  reason  that  they  ought  to 
be  done  so  now. 

Old  customs  are  followed,  although  the  life  has  long 
since  departed  from  them. 

For  example,  It  is  the  custom  in  Mongolia  for  every 
one  who  can  afford  it  to  use  snuff  and  offer  it  to  his 
friends.  Each  man  has  a  small  snuff  box  which  he  pro- 
duces whenever  he  encounters  a  friend;  if  the  person 
with  the  snuff  box  happens  to  be  out  of  snuff,  that  does 
not  prevent  the  passing  of  the  box,  from  which  each  guest 
takes  a  deliberate,  though  imaginary,  pinch  and  returns  it 
to  the  owner.  To  seem  to  notice  that  the  box  was  empty 
would  not  be  good  form,  and  all  is  according  to  a  well 
settled  precedent." 

"  In  a  country  like  China,  which  stretches  through  some 
twenty-five  degrees  of  latitude,  but  in  which  furs  are 
taken  off  and  straw  hats  are  put  on  according  to  a  fixed 
rule  for  the  whole  Empire,  in  regions  where  the  only  heat 


OUR  CHINESE  NEIGHBOR  63 


in  the  house  during  the  winter  comes  from  the  stove  bed 
or  k'ang,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  travelers  who  have 
been  caught  in  a  '  cold  snap  '  to  find  that  no  arguments 
can  induce  the  landlord  of  the  inn  to  heat  the  k'ang,  be- 
cause *  the  season  for  heating  the  k'ang  has  not  arrived.'  " 
American  street  car  companies  and  apartment  house 
owners  have  at  times  taken  a  leaf  from  the  Chinese  in 
this  particular.  What  could  move  this  people  to  leave 
their  home  and  seek  a  new  world? 

THE  CHINESE  IN  AMERICA 

What  Caused  Their  Coming?  The  first  large  migra- 
tion of  the  Chinese  to  America  may  be  explained  by  two 
words,  War  and  Gold. 

In  1850  the  great  Tai  Ping  rebellion  broke  out  and  soon 
spread  poverty  and  ruin  through  southeastern  China ;  the 
terrors  of  war  with  its  ever  present  hand-maidens,  fam- 
ine and  plunder,  ruined  all  business  and  paralyzed  all 
industry.  The  farmer  class  of  the  sea  coast  districts  was 
driven  into  Hong  Kong  and  there  they  met  the  aston- 
ishing stories  of  the  fabulous  wealth  in  the  recently  dis- 
covered gold  fields  of  California  and  Australia.  That,  in 
brief,  is  the  history  of  the  first  big  wave  of  Chinese  mi- 
gration to  America. 

The  Sort  of  Chinese  Who  Came.  Those  who  came 
were  largely  from  the  farmer  class.  The  Chinese  farmer 
is  very  different  from  the  Sicilian  farmer ;  the  latter  rents 
his  land  at  a  ruinous  price  from  the  large  land  owner,  or 
works  it  for  a  meagre  wage  almost  as  a  serf ;  the  Chinese 
farmer  belongs  to  one  of  the  most  honored  classes  in 
China.  He  owns  the  land,  has  freedom  of  trade  and 
industry,  local  self-government,  can  appeal  against  offi- 
cial misgovernment  and  has  the  opportunity  to  rise  to 


64         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


any  social  or  political  station."  The  social  system  of 
China  is  well  worth  keeping  in  mind.  First  in  rank  comes 
the  scholar,  the  man  with  the  trained  mind  fitting  him  to 
be  a  wise  leader  and  guide ;  second,  the  farmer,  the  pro- 
ducer, the  creator  of  wealth;  third,  the  artisan,  who 
changes  the  raw  material  into  usable  forms,  makes  fur- 
niture of  the  timber,  pots  from  the  iron,  dishes  from  the 
clay;  fourth,  the  merchant,  the  middleman,  who  sees  to 
the  distribution  of  flour,  rice,  clothing,  etc.;  fifth,  the 
laborer;  and  last,  the  soldier  or  non-producer.  In  what 
order  do  we  rank  these  classes  ?  The  early  type  of  immi- 
gration from  China  was  of  a  high  grade. 

How  They  Were  Received.  The  Chinese  were  re- 
ceived in  California  with  open  arms,  so  to  speak.  "  Indus- 
trial necessity  "  overlooked  the  usually  present  race  prej- 
udice, and  the  Chinese  turned  their  hands  to  anything 
that  would  fill  the  gap  the  American  gold-seeker  had  cre- 
ated. They  became  cooks,  restaurant  keepers,  laborers, 
household  servants — there  were  no  women  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  then,  willing  to  do  the  last  named  work — carpen- 
ters, farmers  of  neglected  land.  Governor  McDougall,  in 
1852,  recommended  a  series  of  land  grants  to  induce  their 
further  coming;  editors  praised  their  industry,  their 
cheerfulness,  and  personal  cleanliness ;  the  Chinamen 
must  have  thought  the  Golden  Age  was  come  again. 

The  Rude  Awakening.  In  1854  came  the  collapse  of 
the  California  boom;  placer  mines  gave  out;  men  from 
the  mines  seeking  employment  were  coming  to  the  city  in 
droves;  the  wage  of  $10  per  day  for  skilled  and  $3.50 
to  $5  for  unskilled  labor  was  over;  then  came  the  cry  of 
America  for  Americans.  The  Chinese  were  ill-treated  and 
many  lost  their  lives.  Committees  were  formed  by  the 
better  class  of  Americans  to  protect  them,  but  the  cry 
against  them  never  ceased  in  California  until  the  Chinese 


OUR  CHINESE  NEIGHBOR 


65 


exclusion  law  of  1888  was  enacted,  barring  them  from 
the  country. 

The  Chinese  Intellectually.  The  Chinese  rank  high  in- 
tellectually. Their  age-long  reverence  for  learning — for 
a  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  classics  opened  the 
door  to  the  highest  positions — has  undoubtedly  had 
a  marked  effect  upon  the  mental  side  of  the  nation. 
The  Chinese  hero  has  been  the  one  who  passed  success- 
fully through  the  various  examinations  in  the  classics  and 
finally,  after  many  difficulties,  attained  the  coveted  de- 
gree. Their  highways  are  spanned  with  arches  erected, 
not  to  great  soldiers,  but  to  great  scholars." 

The  nature  of  the  outings  that  the  average  young 
American  of  the  East  Side  conducts  is  pretty  well  known 
throughout  the  city  of  New  York.  They  are  usually 
anything  but  orderly  and  thoughtful.  But  on  a  Christian 
Chinese  picnic  I  have  gone  from  the  bow  to  the  stern  of 
the  boat  and  found  numerous  games  of  Chinese  chess 
in  progress,  each  game  surrounded  by  an  excited  group 
of  advisers  telling  the  players  what  move  to  make  to 
checkmate  their  opponents.  The  playing  of  a  good  game 
of  chess  is  not  a  childish  task.  The  Chinese  are  a  thought- 
ful people. 

Generosity.  Few  favors  done  the  Chinese  pass  unre- 
warded. I  have  seen  many  touching  examples  of  sym- 
pathetic helpfulness.  A  few  years  ago  a  beautiful  Chi- 
nese woman  was  helped  to  escape  from  worse  than  slav- 
ery. To  save  her  from  the  sworn  vengeance  of  her  mas- 
ter, it  was  necessary  to  send  her  clear  across  the  conti- 
nent in  company  with  a  missionary.  This  we  did.  Like 
Nicodemus,  who  came  to  our  Lord  under  cover  of  dark- 
ness, there  came  to  us  later  a  woman  from  Chinatown. 
Her  husband  is  one  of  the  most  notorious  gamblers  in  the 
country,  but  his  wife  had  a  woman's  sympathy  with  the 


66         SOME  LAOIIGRAXT  NEIGHBORS 


kindly  service  rendered,  and  she  left  a  hundred  dollars  as 
her  gift  toward  the  safety  of  her  unfortunate  country- 
woman. 

Spiritually.  I  am  repeatedly  asked,  "  Do  the  Chinese 
ever  become  Christians  ? "  Their  spiritual  nature  is  as 
keen  as  that  of  any  foreign-speaking  people  that  come  to 
us.  The  spirit  that  changes  the  life  of  a  wicked,  gam- 
bling, drinking  American  performs  a  like  office  in  a 
wicked,  gambling,  opium-smoking  Chinese.  The  Christ 
that  attracts  little  American  boys  and  girls  is  a  like  mag- 
net to  these  little  Chinese  lads  and  lassies.  We  had  in 
our  school  for  some  years  a  little  Chinese  boy  named 
Guy.  He  was  bright  and  courageous,  and  accompanied 
our  missionary  on  many  of  her  visits  among  the  Chi- 
nese. He  said  one  day,  with  great  earnestness,  "  There 
are  three  things  I  want.  First,  I  want  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian and  get  my  heart  right ;  second,  I  want  to  be  baptized 
so  that  all  the  Chinese  may  know  that  I  am  separated 
from  paganism,  and  third,  I  want  to  be  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  so  that  many  may  hear  the  glad  news."  You  will 
agree  that  these  are  good  wishes  for  even  an  American 
boy.  One  night  he  dreamed  that  his  father,  who  was  in 
China,  had  returned  to  America  and  that  he  and  Guy 
stood  together  at  the  altar  of  a  church  while  Guy  was 
being  baptized. 

Wong  Sing  came  into  our  night  school  seven  years  ago. 
He  hated  the  name  of  "  Jesus."  When  he  heard  in 
America  that  Christ  was  being  preached  in  his  native 
village,  he  said,  "  Hot  anger  rose  within  me."  One  rea- 
son for  this  was  that  Wong  Sing  knew  only  the  Chris- 
tianity of  Mexico,  and  this  is  cruel  and  disdainful  toward 
the  Chinese.  It  has  taken  the  world  many  centuries  to 
learn  that  the  Christianity  of  Jesus  is  best  extended  not 
by  sword  or  force,  or  even  by  argument,  but  by  loving- 
kindness. 


A  Chinese  Family 
(Church  of  All  Nations,  New  York  City) 


OUR  CHINESE  NEIGHBOR  67 


One  day  Wong  Sing  went  home  from  our  school  with 
a  Chinese  New  Testament,  and  to  him  it  was  the  Word 
of  God  from  heaven.  He  read  it  all  night,  getting  an 
hour's  sleep  in  the  early  morning  before  he  went  to 
work.  He  was  converted  by  the  reading,  and  then  he 
threw  himself,  with  all  his  soul,  into  the  work  of  the 
church.  He  was  all  for  Christ.  In  the  last  four  years 
he  was  with  us  he  did  not  miss  one  session  of  the  school. 

Finally,  business  called  him  home.  His  mother  in 
China  was  greatly  grieved  at  his  conversion.  She  said, 
"  My  son  has  deserted  the  old  faith.  When  I  die,  who 
will  worship  at  my  tablet  ?  My  son  went  away  a  good  boy, 
he  comes  back  possessed  of  a  devil."  Wong  was  the 
only  Christian  in  the  village.  He  tried  to  show  his  mother 
the  better  way  he  had  found  in  Christ,  but  without  suc- 
cess, and  in  great  bitterness  of  heart  over  the  loss  of  her 
boy's  faith  in  the  old  religion,  she  ended  her  own  life. 
On  this  young  Christian  has  fallen  the  curses  and  revil- 
ings  of  the  entire  village,  but  he  has    kept  the  faith." 

When  You  Toy,  a  little  Chinese  slave  girl  whom  we 
had  rescued,  told  us  her  dream,  we  felt  that  there  was  a 
relation  between  it  and  her  own  life  and  thinking.  "  Oh," 
she  said,  "  I  had  such  a  wonderful  dream ;  I  saw  God 
and  He  had  a  great  book,  and  He  called  me  to  Him 
and  said, '  Here,  You  Toy,  look  in  this  book,'  and  I  looked 
and  there  was  my  name,  and  after  it  in  bright  letters  was 
written,  '  You  are  my  precious  one.'  "  I  believe  that  a 
little  orphan  girl  from  a  far  country,  trained  in  ancestor 
worship,  could  never  have  had  that  dream  if  God  were 
not  a  known  and  near  friend.  What  do  you  think 
about  it  ? 

The  Russians,  Hebrews,  Italians  and  Americans — none 
of  these  people  surpasses  the  Chinese  in  loyalty  and  in 
labors,  once  they  become  followers  of  Christ. 


VII 

MAKERS  OF  GOOD  NEIGHBORS 


"  Fear  not,  we  cannot  fail : 
The  message  must  prevail ; 
Truth  is  the  oath  of  God, 
And  sure  and  fast, 
Through  death  and  hell. 
Holds,  onward,  to  the  last." 


VII 


MAKERS  OF  GOOD  NEIGHBORS 

To  Begin  With.  Who  and  what  are  the  good  neigh- 
bors in  our  country  that  are  most  powerful  in 
changing    this    many-tongued    multitude  into 
Americans  ?   Who  are  influencing  them  so  that  they  un- 
derstand us  and  we  understand  them?   What  forces  are 
welding  these  many  fragments  into  one  nation? 

To  receive  into  one  great  common  home  millions  of 
sons  and  daughters  strange  to  that  home  and  to  one 
another  in  speech,  custom  and  land,  and  to  blend  them 
into  one  people,  this  seems  an  impossible  task.  And  yet 
it  is  being  accomplished. 

The  Public  School.  Among  the  good  neighbors  that 
are  grappling  with  this  great  task  most  effectively  I 
place  the  public  school  first,  because  I  believe  it  the 
most  useful  neighbor  in  making  young  Americans.  Fre- 
quently the  foreign-born  parents  see  the  New  World 
largely  through  the  eyes  of  their  children,  so  that  the 
school  is  a  good  neighbor  to  the  whole  family. 

The  public  school  makes  different  nationalities  friendly. 
All  school  boys  know  how  by  studying  together,  re- 
citing together  and  playing  together  they  acquire  respect 
for  one  another,  and  learn  to  look  over  the  barriers  of 
race.  A  public  school  near  my  church  which  is  made 
up  almost  wholly  of  Jews  and  Italians,  elected  one  of  my 
Sunday-school  scholars,  a  Japanese  boy,  president  of  the 

71 


72         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


class,  simply  because  his  ability  and  good  manners  had 
won  their  respect. 

Manual  Training.  By  manual  training  classes  the  pub- 
lic school  promotes  respect  for  work  with  the  hands.  We 
cannot  understand  the  foreigners'  contempt  for  this  kind 
of  work,  but  it  is  very  strong.  I  once  took  an  Armenian, 
who  had  come  all  the  way  to  America  in  the  hope  of  get- 
ting an  education,  to  the  president  of  a  preparatory  school 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  admitted  free  of  expense  by 
doing  some  work  about  the  institution.  The  president 
stated  that  the  school  was  overcrowded,  but  he  would 
take  him  in  if  he  would  work  in  the  field  a  couple  of 
hours  a  day.  The  Armenian,  who  was  really  an  earnest 
man,  felt  the  work  would  too  greatly  degrade  him,  and 
declined. 

Teaching  in  the  English  Language.  The  English  lan- 
guage is  of  course  another  great  help  in  Americaniza- 
tion. 

The  City  and  the  Immigrant  Child.  The  child  of  the 
immigrant  is  in  special  need  of  the  help  and  sympathy  of 
all  American  boys  and  girls.  Frequently  he  is  the  sole 
person  in  the  home  who  speaks  English,  and  so  is  called 
upon  for  advice  and  is  consulted  in  many  things  upon 
which  American  fathers  and  mothers  never  need  to  con- 
sult their  children.  This  is  unfortunate  for  him,  as  we 
can  readily  see.  He  often  despises  the  language  and  cus- 
toms of  his  parents  and  then  ends  by  despising  the 
parents  themselves.  He  cannot  understand  the  love  his 
parents  feel  for  their  homeland;  he  cannot  see  the  blue 
skies  and  green  hills  and  mountains  so  dear  to  them ;  he 
cannot  feel  the  home  attachments. 

"  I  recall  a  certain  Italian  girl,"  writes  Miss  Jane 
Addams,  "  who  came  every  Saturday  evening  to  a  cook- 
ing class  in  the  same  building  in  which  her  mother  spun 


MAKERS  OF  GOOD  NEIGHBORS  73 


in  the  Labor  ^luseum  Exhibit ;  and  yet  AngeHna  always 
left  her  mother  at  the  front  door  while  she  herself  went 
round  to  a  side  door,  because  she  did  not  wish  to  be  too 
closely  identified  in  the  eyes  of  the  rest  of  the  cooking 
class  with  an  Italian  woman  who  wore  a  kerchief  over 
her  head,  uncouth  boots,  and  short  petticoats.  One 
evening,  however,  Angelina  saw  her  mother  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  visitors  from  the  School  of  Education  who 
much  admired  her  spinning  ability,  and  she  concluded 
from  their  conversation  that  her  mother  was  the  *  best 
stick  spindle  spinner  in  America.' 

"  When  she  inquired  from  me  as  to  the  truth  of  this 
deduction  I  took  occasion  to  describe  the  Italian  village 
in  which  her  mother  had  lived,  something  of  her  free  life, 
and  how  because  of  the  opportunity  she  and  other  women 
had  had  to  drop  their  spindles  over  the  edge  of  a  pre- 
cipice they  had  developed  a  skill  in  spinning  beyond  that 
of  the  neighboring  towns.  I  dilated  somewhat  upon  the 
freedom  and  beauty  of  that  life,  how  hard  it  must  be  to 
exchange  it  all  for  a  two-room  tenement  and  to  give  up 
a  beautiful  homespun  kerchief  for  an  ugly  department 
store  hat.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  the  thought  of  the 
mother  with  any  other  background  than  that  of  the  tene- 
ment was  new  to  Angelina,  and  at  least  two  things 
resulted;  she  allowed  her  mother  to  pull  out  of  the  big 
box  under  the  bed  the  beautiful  homespun  garments 
which  had  previously  been  hidden  away  as  uncouth,  and 
she  openly  came  into  the  Labor  IMuseum  by  the  same 
door  as  did  her  mother,  proud  at  least  of  the  mastery 
of  the  craft  which  had  been  so  much  admired." 

While  it  might  seem  that  the  child  represents  the  most 
precious  future  wealth  of  our  cities,  he  evidently  is  not 
so  valued.  Real  estate  is  worth  more  than  he  is.  Dirty, 
disease-breeding  blocks  that  should  be  parks  and  play- 


SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


grounds  are  worth  more  than  he  is.  Even  where  grass 
grows,  big  signs  everyw^here  indicate  that  grass  is  sacred 
and  of  more  account  than  he  is.  In  planning  our  Ameri- 
can cities  the  child  seems  to  have  been  entirely  left  out. 
When  tenements  became  profitable,  and  the  tenements 
are  the  homes  of  the  immigrant  children,  the  backyard 
playground  disappeared.  The  street  is  the  only  play- 
ground left  and,  cursed  by  drivers  because  the  horses 
stumble  over  them,  and  by  chauffeurs  because  they  limit 
their  speed,  and  chased  by  the  police  as  a  general 
nuisance,  the  children  of  the  tenements  are  surely  to  be 
pitied. 

A  young  Italian  girl  fifteen  years  of  age  was  being 
sworn  in  a  Brooklyn  court.  Before  swearing  her  the 
Judge  told  the  clerk  to  inquire  if  she  knew  the  meaning 
of  an  oath  in  court.  He  asked,  "  Do  you  know  who 
God  is  ?  "  She  replied,  God,  who  is  he  ?  "  He  said. 
Do  you  know  anything  about  Christ  ?  "  She  repHed, 
"  Christ,  where  does  he  live  ?" 

Here  is  a  chance  for  the  boys  and  girls  of  America  to 
be  good  neighbors. 

The  Settlement.  Some  one  says,  "  I  have  often  heard 
about  settlements,  but  what  do  they  do  ?  "  The  Church 
of  All  Nations  carries  on  a  church  and  settlement  work 
on  the  lower  East  Side  of  New  York.  If  you  were  to 
pay  it  a  visit  during  a  week  day  this  is  what  you  might 
see.  By  8.30  o'clock  in  the  morning  there  would  be  a 
patter  of  little  feet  and  a  babel  of  children's  voices  and 
we  would  know  the  Italian  boys  and  girls  were  coming 
for  the  daily  kindergarten.  At  nine  o'clock  the  office  bell 
begins  to  ring ;  just  sit  in  the  office  and  listen  to  the  peo- 
ple who  call.  One  says,  "  I  need  to  go  to  the  hospital  "  ; 
another,  I  want  to  get  a  friend  out  of  prison  a  big 
able  man  says,  "  I  want  work  " ;  some  are  in  need  of 


MAKERS  OF  GOOD  NEIGHBORS  75 


clothes  or  food,  or  a  lawyer,  or  are  discouraged  and  have 
come  to  talk  over  their  troubles.  These  last  keep  coming 
during  the  morning  office  hour  and,  in  fact,  all  day  and 
into  the  night. 

In  the  afternoon  there  is  a  mother's  meeting  for 
Itahans,  or  Hebrews,  or  some  other  nationality,  with 
an  address  of  a  religious  nature  or  a  brief  talk  on  some 
topic  that  helps  make  the  mothers  better  able  to  care  for 
their  children.  American  boys  and  girls  may  think  all 
mothers  know  how  to  take  care  of  children,  because  their 
mothers  took  such  good  care  of  them.  It  would  surprise 
them  to  know^  that  in  the  fall  some  of  the  immigrant 
mothers  sew  a  suit  of  clothes  on  their  child  and  expect 
that  suit  to  stay  on  through  the  winter — it  is  not  to  come 
off  at  night,  either.  ]\Iany  Italian  mothers  wrap  up  their 
little  babies  until  they  look  like  a  mummy  that  you  may 
have  seen  in  a  museum.  The  baby  can  move  its  hands 
but  not  its  feet ;  it  can  also  move  its  big  black  eyes,  and 
laugh  or  cry.  We  know  better  than  these  mothers,  so  we 
try  to  teach  them  wiser  ways  of  caring  for  their  children. 

At  three  o'clock  there  may  be  sessions  of  the  sewing- 
school,  or  game  room,  or  gymnasium  classes  for  the 
younger  boys  who  are  not  allowed  to  come  at  night.  In 
the  evening  there  are  club  meetings  under  chosen  leaders, 
bowling  contests,  basket  ball  games,  and  night  school  for 
Italians,  Chinese,  Hebrews  or  Russians.  In  other  parts 
of  the  building  may  be  illustrated  lectures  or  motion 
pictures.  So  you  see  a  Settlement  has  a  very  busy  and 
varied  sort  of  day's  work,  and  is  a  good  neighbor  to  the 
immigrant. 

Other  Good  Neighbors.  In  addition  to  the  good 
neighbors  mentioned,  many  other  forces  assist  in  the 
Americanizing  of  the  foreigner.  America  itself,  the 
streets,  the  stores,  the  factories,  the  public  institutions. 


'6         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


the  work  at  which  he  is  employed  and  the  conditions 
under  wdiich  he  toils,  all  have  a  marked  effect  upon  the 
stranger.  Those  who  have  studied  the  matter  say  that 
the  Jew  is  developing  a  better  physical  type  than  at  home, 
while  the  Italian,  used  to  open  air  peasant  life,  is  running 
down  in  stature. 

While  the  immigrant  is  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land 
he  is  by  no  means  a  stranger  in  a  friendless  land. 
America  is  not  only  rich  in  dollars,  it  is  rich  in  kindness 
and  sympathy.  Our  fathers  were  pilgrims  and  strangers ; 
some  of  us  were  ourselves  strangers.  We  should,  there- 
fore, try  to  carry  out  Christ's  story  of  the  good  neighbor, 
and,  if  we  find  our  immigrant  brother  in  need  of  help  or 
protection,  we  should  be  among  the  first  to  have  com- 
passion on  him. 


viir 

GOOD  NEIGHBORS  AND  BAD 


"  Lead  on,  O  King  eternal, 

The  day  of  march  has  come : 
Henceforth  in  fields  of  conquest 

Thy  tents  shall  be  our  home. 
Through  days  of  preparation 

Thy  grace  has  made  us  strong, 
And  now,  O  King  eternal, 

We  lift  our  battle  song." 


VIII 


GOOD  NEIGHBORS  AND  BAD 

THE  Church.    The  Protestant  church  in  America 
is  a  good  neighbor  to  the  immigrant.  The 
trouble  is  that  many  immigrants  refuse  to  permit 
it  to  be  their  friend. 

We  have  seen  that  the  chief  reason  that  the  church 
cannot  do  what  it  would  among  the  Jews,  Russians, 
ItaHans  and  Chinese,  the  people  we  are  studying,  is 
because  these  people  do  not  understand  that  the  church 
in  America  is  different  from  the  church  in  their  home 
countries.  They  do  not  know  that  American  Christianity 
is  a  friend  of  liberty,  and  is  really  trying  to  aid  the 
common  people. 

When  the  Irish  immigrants  came  in  such  multitudes 
to  America  they  thronged  the  Catholic  Churches.  Their 
church  had  been  their  loyal  champion  in  Ireland,  and  they 
knew  it  would  be  the  same  friend  in  America.  The 
same  loyalty  was  shown  by  the  Lutheran  to  his  church 
when  he  came  from  Germany  to  America. 

But  the  million  and  more  Jews  that  have  flowed  into 
America  want  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  church,  and 
the  multitudes  of  Italians,  when  loyal  to  any  church, 
belong  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  Russians  are  often 
exiled  from  home  because  of  the  church. 

To  be  the  best  of  good  neighbors  to  these  people,  it 
is  necessary,  first,  for  the  church  to  know  their  history. 
Only  in  that  way  can  church  people  understand  how  the 

79 


8o         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


foreigner  feels  toward  the  church  and  how  most  wisely 
to  approach  him. 

The  Jew  and  the  Church.  What  does  the  Jew  regard 
as  the  cause  of  the  sorrow  which  has  sent  him  to 
America?  I  have  seen  old  Russian  Jews  stand  in  front 
of  a  Christian  church  at  night,  when  they  thought  no  eye 
saw  them,  and  shake  their  fist  at  the  cross  over  the  door, 
spit  at  it,  curse  it,  and  go  their  way.  "  If,"  said  a  Jewish 
woman,  the  Christians  want  to  be  friends  with  the  Jews 
why  do  they  forever  preach  that  the  Jews  killed  Jesus? 
We  know  our  nation  was  the  cause  of  His  death,  but 
how  many  Christians  have  died  in  the  religious  wars 
between  themselves  ?  "  She  laid  the  persecution  of  her 
race  at  the  door  of  Christianity. 

Speaking  one  day  of  the  religious  fervor  of  an  old 
Hebrew,  his  daughter  said :  Yes,  he  is  religious,  but 
none  of  the  rest  of  us  have  any  use  for  it.  I  think  it  is 
through  religion  that  most  trouble  comes  into  the  world." 
"  Now,"  she  continued,  "  the  best  friend  I  have  in 
America  has  just  gone  out  angry  because  when  she  came 
in  she  found  a  fire  in  my  house,  and  this  is  a  Jewish  fast 
day.  Rehgion  drove  us  out  of  Poland  with  the  loss  of 
everything.  I  believe  we  w^ould  be  better  off  if  religion 
was  out  of  the  world."  I  tried  to  show  her  that  true 
Christianity  was  not  guilty  of  these  cruel  persecutions  of 
her  people,  that  it  was  the  lack  of  true  Christianity  that 
caused  them;  yet  I  doubt  if  I  convinced  her. 

Even  when  Jewish  children  are  allowed  to  attend 
Christian  religious  institutions  to  get  them  off  the  streets 
they  are  often  forewarned.  I  noticed  one  day  that  a 
boy  who  sang  lustily  some  of  the  hymns  stopped  at  the 
word  "Jesus,"  or  else  substituted  the  word,  "Moses." 
"  Curley,"  I  said,  "  why  don't  you  sing  the  name  Jesus?  " 
"  My  mother  told  me  not  to  say  it  or  my  tongue  would 


GOOD  NEIGHBORS  AND  BAD  8i 


turn  black,"  came  the  prompt  reply.  Another  boy  attend- 
ing our  classes  reached  up  and  kissed  a  gold  cross  that 
hung  on  a  chain  around  the  neck  of  one  of  our  workers. 
He  had  no  sooner  done  so  than  he  cried  across  the  room 
to  his  sister,  "  It  never  hurt  me."  "  What  did  you  expect 
would  hurt  you  ?  "  said  the  teacher.  My  mother  told 
me  I  could  come  to  class  but  if  I  said  the  name  of 
'  Jesus  '  it  would  turn  my  tongue  black,  and  if  I  touched 
the  cross,  it  would  kill  me,  and  I  didn't  believe  her." 
This  was  especially  sad,  for  the  boy  said  his  mother  had 
told  him  a  falsehood. 

The  Russian  and  the  Church.  The  Russian  dislikes  the 
church.  He  does  not  know  the  Protestant  church  of 
America.  All  he  knows  is  that  the  church  of  Russia 
is  at  least  no  friend  of  liberty.  He  wants  nothing  to  do 
with  what  he  considers  a  similar  enemy  in  America. 

The  Chinese  and  the  Church.  The  most  devoted 
Chinese  we  ever  had  in  our  work  after  he  became  a 
Christian,  had  a  similar  feeling.  His  idea  of  Christianity 
came  from  the  Catholics  of  IMexico,  who  have  treated  the 
Chinese  very  cruelly.  He  came  to  our  school  because  he 
hoped  to  learn  English  and  not  because  he  wanted  to 
hear  of  Christ. 

The  Italian  and  the  Church.  The  church  in  Italy  is 
more  or  less  a  political  machine.  The  Italian  knows  how 
the  Roman  church  opposed  the  liberty  of  Italy  and  this 
makes  him  fear  or  hate  all  churches.  Great  churches  in 
Italy  are  often  found  with  but  a  baker's  dozen  in  attend- 
ance. The  only  times  on  which  they  are  thronged  are 
when  a  "  festa"  is  being  held,  a  festival  in  honor  of  some 
saint. 

Brave  Christians.  Numbers  of  the  immigrants  who 
become  Christians  are  real  heroes.  The  story  of  the  per- 
secutions they  suffer  would  be  a  surprise  to  most  Chris- 


82         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


tian  Americans.  The  Jewish  daily  papers  sometimes 
publish  the  names  of  the  Jewish  attendants  at  Christian 
meetings  that  they  may  incite  their  Jewish  neighbors 
against  them,  and  the  tenement  has  so  bitter  a  tongue  that 
it  often  drives  the  family  out  of  the  neighborhood. 

Young  people  who  are  baptized  are  mourned  for  as 
dead,  cast  out  of  their  homes,  and  made  practically 
orphans,  and  Christian  workers  must  find  homes  for  them. 
Spies  are  sent  into  Christian  meetings  to  secure  the 
names  and  addresses  of  Hebrews  present,  and  then 
letters,  or  visits,  or  both,  follow.  Bibles  of  young  con- 
verts are  taken  from  them  and  burned.  While  the 
streets  are  filled  with  children  with  no  religious  instruc- 
tion, the  whole  Ghetto  is  stirred  over  one  convert  to 
Christ. 

One  leading  Russian  revolutionist  told  me  that  if  he 
were  to  come  out  openly  in  favor  of  the  Christian  church 
his  business  would  be  ruined. 

The  country  founded  by  men  who  sought  it  for  liberty 
of  conscience  is  not  a  free  country  to  every  one  and  men 
who  have  found  an  asylum  here  from  the  oppressor  of 
Europe  become  in  turn  oppressors  themselves. 

The  greatest  need  of  all  these  people  is  Christ. 

The  Need  of  Christ.  The  non-Christian  Chinese  are  at 
times  cruel  and  merciless  beyond  description.  Slavery 
is  common  among  them,  women  being  bought  and  sold 
like  merchandise.  The  treatment  of  little  "  servant " 
girls  is  sometimes  so  inhuman  that  they  commit  suicide. 
These  little  girls  are  bought  by  the  Chinese  and  then  fre- 
quently sold  by  them  when  12  or  15  years  of  age.  The 
picture  of  two  of  these  little  "  servant  "  girls,  rescued  by 
the  Church  of  All  Nations,  appears  opposite  this  page. 

One  Christmas  night  a  great  company  of  Chinese  and 
their  friends  had  gathered  to  celebrate  the  birth  of 


j 
i 

I 


GOOD  NEIGHBORS  AND  BAD  83 


Christ.  Chinese  women  were  there  who  had  never  before 
been  in  a  pubhc  gathering;  bound- feet  women  were 
there  who  are  never  seen  on  the  streets.  The  platform 
was  thronged  with  Chinese  children  in  their  quaint,  beau- 
tiful, and  becoming  Oriental  costumes.  The  first  Christ- 
mas was  long,  long  ago.  Scripture  tells  us  that  on  that 
night  a  song  so  full  of  joy  that  it  startled  the  shepherds 
rang  through  the  wintry  sky.  Poets  ana  other  people 
say  that  as  Christmas  time  comes  round  again  they  can 
still  catch  faint  echoes  of  the  angels'  song.  Perhaps  the 
angels  still  sing  it  each  glad  Christmas  Eve;  anyway,  at 
no  other  time  does  a  child  seem  so  beautiful  and  so  holy. 

When  the  exercises  were  over  I  said  a  parting  word 
to  our  guests.  One  Chinese  woman,  carrying  in  her  arms 
a  beautiful  little  baby  girl,  came  up  to  say  good  night. 
"  Why,  Mrs.  Sun,"  I  exclaimed,  I  did  not  know  you 
had  a  little  girl."  "  Oh,"  she  said,  "  I  hadn't,  but  Mrs. 
Wu  had  one  girl  and  when  this  baby  was  born  she 
didn't  want  it  because  one  girl  was  enough,  so  she  gave 
it  to  me."  This  in  New  York  on  Christmas  night,  191 1. 
Can  you  imagine  a  Christian  mother  glad  to  give  away 
her  little  girl?   The  Chinese  need  Christ. 

The  Russian  needs  something  other  than  shorter  hours 
and  larger  wages.  Many  of  them  are  seeking  the  higher 
things.  A  Russian  pastor  told  me  of  making  an  engage- 
ment with  one  of  his  hearers  at  a  Russian  open  air  ser- 
vice to  discuss  and  explain  Christianity  to  a  Russian  in 
his  home.  When  the  night  came  this  Russian  revolu- 
tionist had  gathered  a  group  of  his  fellows  in  his  tene- 
ment quarters  and  there  pastor  and  men  discussed  the 
Christian  faith  from  8  o'clock  in  the  evening  till  mid- 
night and  would  have  kept  the  discussion  up  all  night, 
could  the  pastor  have  remained.  Christ  and  the  church 
are  needed  by  the  Russian. 


84         SO:\IE  nnilGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


You  see  that  some  people  have  misrepresented  our 
Lord  and  His  church.  W^e  must  try  to  right  this  wrong 
done  the  foreigner  and  we  must  be  patient  and  loving  in 
doing  it.  The  immigrants  are  in  need  of  many  things — • 
we  must  endeavor  to  supply  these  needs.  We  must  do  it 
for  the  sake  of  Christ.  We  must  do  it  in  the  name  of 
Christ.  We  must  do  it  as  if  our  Lord  Himself  sat  weary 
and  thirsty  before  us  and  it  was  given  us  to  hand  Him 
the  cup  of  water.  How  glad  we  would  be  for  such  an 
honor ! 

Bad  Neighbors 

The  Saloon.  It  is  sad  to  see  so  many  bright  Italian 
boys  with  their  fruit  stands  and  shoe  polishing  chairs 
hard  by  saloon  doors.  They  do  not  know  how  great  an 
enemy  is  pretending  to  be  their  friend. 

The  saloon  is  a  bad  neighbor  to  the  immigrant.  It 
wastes  his  money  and  his  time.  It  unfits  him  for  work, 
starves  his  family  and  makes  them  feel  ashamed  of  hus- 
band and  father.  It  leads  to  disease  and  often  to  prison, 
for  the  saloon  is  the  mother  of  innumerable  crimes.  It 
helps  make  weak-minded  and  deformed  children  and  is 
an  evil  organization  whose  destruction  has  already  been 
determined  upon  by  the  truest  and  best  Christian  people 
in  our  land.  For  the  sake  of  the  immigrant,  for  the  sake 
of  the  fair  name  of  America,  let  us  unite  to  shut  its  doors 
and  banish  it  from  our  country. 

Ignorance.  Ignorance  keeps  the  immigrant  un- 
American.  One  who  cannot  read  is  at  a  serious  dis- 
advantage. When  it  is  remembered  that  of  the  Italians 
sixty  out  of  one  hundred  of  all  those  over  fourteen  years 
of  age  who  come  to  America  belong  to  this  class,  we  see 
the  need  of  the  work  of  night  schools  to  overcome  this 
ignorance,   The  case  is  made  still  worse  by  the  fact  that 


GOOD  NEIGHBORS  AND  BAD  85 


the  immigrants  crowd  together  into  colonies,  as  "  Little 
Italy,"  "Little  Russia,"  and  "the  Ghetto/'  where 
the  English  language  is  not  spoken  and  there  are  no 
broadening  American  influences. 

Injurious  Employment.  The  work  in  which  the  immi- 
grant is  generally  employed  helps  keep  him  un-American. 
He  has  no  opportunity  to  know  America  or  to  know 
Americans.  Much  of  the  work  is  wearying  and  dis- 
heartening. Men  bound  for  the  coal  mines  are  packed 
in  cars  and  hurried  away,  often  through  the  night,  to  the 
distant  coal  fields ;  underground  all  day  and  sleeping  in 
wretched  quarters  above  ground  at  night,  diey  have  little 
opportunity  to  see  or  know  anything  of  their  adopted 
land.  I  stepped  up  to  a  stone  house  alongside  a  railroad 
excavation  in  the  country  part  of  Connecticut  once  to 
have  a  look  at  the  occupants.  There  were  two  floors  in 
the  old  tumble-down  house  and  both  were  packed  with 
mattresses  and  makeshifts  for  beds  until  practically  the 
whole  floor  space  was  covered.  It  was  a  wet  day  and  all 
the  men  were  crowded  indoors.  A  handsome  young 
fellow  lay  sick  on  one  of  the  mattresses.  I  put  my  head 
in  the  door  and  said :  "  lo  parlo  un  poco  Italiano  ma  non 
bene."  "  I  speak  a  little  Italian,  but  not  well."  Imme- 
diately there  was  a  laugh,  probably  at  the  "  not  well," 
and  they  rose  to  greet  me  as  courteously  as  if  all  were 
trained  gentlemen.  The  sick  boy  began  to  talk  and  the 
group  was  friendly  with  me  in  a  moment. 

The  day  will  come  when  we  shall  find  that  these  people 
can  do  something  other  than  dig  ditches  and  mix  con- 
crete. The  ItaHans  who  are  now  employed  as  our 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  are  of  the  race 
of  painters  and  sculptors  and  silk  makers  of  earlier  days. 

We  must  help  the  immigrant  to  overcome  his  bad 
neighbors,  and  to  know  who  are  his  true  friends. 


IX 

NEIGHBORS  TO  THE  WORLD 


For  lo,  there  breaks  a  yet  more  glorious  day; 
The  saints  triumphant  rise  in  bright  array; 
The  King  of  glory  passes  on  His  way. 

From  earth's  wide  bounds,  from  ocean's  farthest  coast, 
Through  gates  of  pearl  streams  in  the  countless  host, 
Singing  to  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost, 
"  Hallelujah,  Hallelujah  !  " 


IX 


NEIGHBORS  TO  THE  WORLD 

THOSE  Who  go  Back.    "  Do  these  immigrants  ever 
go  back  home?"  asks  some  one.    "If  I  went 
away  from  home  and  made  my  fortune  I  would 
want  to  go  back  home  to  spend  it." 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  question  and  some  of  you  may 
be  surprised  at  the  answer. 

We  have  all  heard  of  the  incoming  immigrant  army, 
and  small  wonder  when  we  know  that  in  some  years  it 
numbers  over  a  million  human  beings.  But  we  have 
heard  little  about  the  returning  army.  How  large  is  it? 
How  many  of  our  immigrant  neighbors  prefer  to  spend 
their  savings  at  home?  How  many  go  home  because 
fortune  has  not  smiled  upon  them  in  America,  or  because 
their  mothers  write,  "  I  am  getting  old  and  it  is  very 
lonesome  with  my  son  far  across  the  sea  "  ? 

Let  us  lay  on  the  table  nine,  bright,  new,  copper  pen- 
nies. Now  suppose  each  penny  represents  one  hundred 
thousand  immigrants.  Then  the  nine  pennies  would 
represent  nine  times  one  hundred  thousand,  or  the  nine 
hundred  thousand  immigrants  that  landed  in  191 1.  Since 
almost  three  hundred  thousand  immigrants  went  hack 
home  in  191 1  how  many  of  the^e  nine  pennies  shall  we 
have  to  remove  to  show  the  actual  immigrant  increase 
for  that  year? 

For  1908  we  would  have  to  use  eight  pennies  to  repre^ 
sent  those  who  came,  and  to  remove  six  of  these  pennies 

89 


90         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


to  represent  the  numbers  that  returned  home  that  year. 

I  am  sure  this  will  surprise  some  of  you.  You  did  not 
know  so  great  a  multitude  returned  to  Italy,  or  Russia, 
or  elsewhere,  yet  every  year  anywhere  from  two  hun- 
dred thousand  to  six  hundred  thousand  leave  our  shores 
for  home.  That  makes  us  feel  the  truth  of  the  song  we 
all  know, 

"  Be  it  ever  so  humble, 
There's  no  place  like  home." 

Influence  of  the  Returned  Immigrant.  What  effect 
has  this  home-coming  multitude  upon  towns  and  villages 
all  over  the  world? 

When  Stefano  came  to  America  he  could  neither  read 
nor  write.  One  day  a  friend  said, I  know  a  church  where 
ItaHans  are  taught  to  read  free  of  all  expense."  Stefano 
was  sending  money  home  to  his  mother  each  month,  so 
he  was  glad  to  know  of  a  free  school.  One  night  the 
leader  of  the  school  said,  We  shall  have  a  short  session 
to-night  because  we  are  to  have  a  prayer-meeting  after 
school."  Stefano  and  fifty  other  young  Italians  re- 
mained for  the  prayer-meeting.  At  home  Stefano 
had  ceased  going  to  church  after  he  had  been  confirmed, 
except  sometimes  on  feast  days.  He  remained  to  the 
prayer-meeting,  not  because  he  wanted  to  but  because  all 
the  others  stayed.  He  listened  with  great  attention  to 
the  speaker;  he  had  never  heard  such  an  earnest  address 
as  the  pastor  gave  that  night.  It  seemed  as  if  some  one 
must  have  told  the  preacher  all  about  him.  All  through 
the  week  he  thought  of  the  prayer-meeting  and  after  he 
had  attended  a  few  times  more  he  came  to  the  preaching 
service  on  Sundays,  and  then  Stefano  became  converted. 

When  he  returned  home  he  was  on  fire  with  the  new 
religion  he  had  found.    His  heart  was  full  of  love  for 


NEIGHBORS  TO  THE  WORLD 


91 


everybody.  But  he  was  saddened  when  he  saw  how  little 
the  people  of  his  village  knew  about  God.  One  night  he 
determined  to  tell  them  how  he  had  found  Christ  in 
America,  and  so  he  called  them  together  in  his  mother's 
home  and  told  his  story.  When  he  had  finished  what 
was  his  surprise  and  delight  to  have  three  other  men  rise 
and  tell  how  they  had  found  the  same  Christ  in  golden 
America. 

Every  one  was  interested.  The  villagers  said,  "  Some 
of  these  men  were  bad  men  when  they  went  away ;  they 
are  now  good  men."  You  will  be  glad  to  know  that 
whole  villages  in  Sicily  have  become  Protestant  and 
Christian  by  the  preaching  of  just  such  returned  immi- 
grants as  Stefano.  Last  year  eighteen  Protestant 
Churches  of  one  denomination  were  founded  in  Sicily 
by  returned  immigrants  converted  in  America. 

This  shows  us  the  wonderful  opportunity  we  have  of 
being  a  good  neighbor  to  one  part  of  the  world  by  being 
good  neighbors  to  the  Italians  who  live  near  us. 

What  has  caused  so  old  and  conservative  a  nation  as 
China  to  change  to  a  republic  ?  The  leaders  of  this  revo- 
lution are  Christian  men.  If  we  asked  them  they  would 
say,  "  We  saw  that  the  cities  and  towns  and  schools  and 
churches  and  men  and  women  and  children  of  Christian 
lands  were  different  from  those  of  China.  We  believe 
the  reason  they  are  better  is  because  they  know  Christ 
and  are  following  Him." 

We  have  helped  China  by  being  a  good  neighbor  to 
the  Chinese  who  lived  among  us. 

A  few  weeks  ago  a  Russian  school-teacher  attended  a 
preaching  service  in  my  church.  After  the  Russian 
pastor  had  finished  preaching  the  school-teacher  sought 
him  out  and  said :  "  I  had  fifty  young  men  in  my  class 
in  the  Russian  village  where  I  taught.     I  told  these 


92         SOME  IMMIGRANT  NEIGHBORS 


scholars  all  I  knew  about  God  but  I  could  not  tell  them 
much,  I  knew  so  little  myself.  I  determined  to  know 
more  so  I  visited  the  most  celebrated  monasteries  in 
Russia  in  order  to  find  out  about  God,  but  I  didn't  find 
God  in  the  monasteries.  At  the  great  monastery  of  Kieff 
after  talking  for  hours  with  the  abbot  he  said,  'You 
are  too  good  a  man  to  come  in  here.  Go  back  into  the 
world,  and  somewhere  there  you  will  find  God.'  I 
found  him  this  morning  as  I  listened  to  the  sermon. 
Now  I  shall  go  back  to  Russia  and  tell  the  men  of  my 
village  of  the  God  who  now  speaks  to  my  heart." 

We  shall  help  the  Russian  Empire  by  being  a  good 
neighbor  to  these  subjects  of  the  Czar. 

America  is  to-day  the  greatest  mission  field  on  earth. 
It  is  not  this  because  of  the  vast  number  of  foreigners 
who  remain  and  make  it  their  home ;  it  is  such  because 
of  the  vast  human  river  that  flows  back  to  its  source.  In 
a  barren  desert  tract  in  the  West,  where  sage  brush  and 
cactus  are  the  only  vegetation,  the  desert  blossoms  when 
the  rivers  of  irrigation  are  let  in.  So  does  this  returning 
human  flood  bring  hope  and  new  life  to  wornout  and 
often  hopeless  civiHzations, 

Here  lie  the  responsibility  and  privilege  of  America. 
Through  school  and  settlement  and  church  and  a  myriad 
other  institutions  and  influences  we  must  make  these  Old 
World  brothers  and  sisters  feel  that  they  have  found  in 
the  New  World  more  tender  and  loving  neighbors  than 
those  they  left  behind ;  we  must  show  them  that  accept- 
ing our  science  and  education,  our  ways  of  farming,  and 
mining  and  manufacturing,  is  not  enough,  although  these 
have  had  much  to  do  with  our  greatness.  Queen  Victoria 
when  asked  the  source  of  England's  greatness,  pointed 
to  the  Bible.  It  was  a  true  answer.  It  is  being  humble 
followers  of  Christ  that  makes  us  fit  leaders  of  these 


NEIGHBORS  TO  THE  WORLD 


foreigners,  and  sends  them  back  fit  to  be  leaders  in  their 
turn. 

If  we  are  helpful,  loving  Christian  neighbors  to  these 
immigrants  we  shall  set  in  motion  waves  of  Christian 
faith  and  hope  and  love  that,  like  the  tides,  will  sweep 
around  the  world  and  break  in  benediction  on  every  Old 
World  shore. 


Il 


FICTION 


YANG  PING  YU 

The  Love  Story  of  a  Maiden  of  Cathay 

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orated boards,  net  50c. 

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discreetly  reserved.  The  story  as  told  in  the  letters  is  real, 
vivid,  convincing.  It  is  a  human  document  that  will  compel 
the  attention  of  the  reader  from  beginning  to  end,  and  verify 
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MARION  BLYTHE 

An  American  Bride  in  Porto  Rico 

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*"Ihe  story  is  very  pleasant  and  very  human.  In  her 
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reminds  one  somewhat  of  the  "Lady  of  the  Decoration."  This 
similarity  adds,  however,  rather  than  detracts  from  the 
charm  of  the  book.  She  is  thoroughly  good-natured  and 
clever  and  companionable,  with  a  whimsical  and  ever-present 
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/SLA  MA  Y  MULLINS 

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President  of  the  great  Theological  Seminary  of  Louisville, 
have  taken  a  large  interest  in  these  descendants  of  some  of 
the  best  American  stock.  Through  the  tender  humanness  of 
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MRS.  MAUD  JOHNSON  ELMORE 

The  Revolt  of  Sundaramma 

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Sundaramma,  a  Hindu  maiden,  is  the  heroine  of  this 
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FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


JAMES  F.  LOVE,  P.P. 

The  Unique  Message  and  Universal 
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HOME  MISSIONS 


HOME  MISSION  STUPY  COURSE 

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